Mirai E
by Taylor Hatake
Summary: Dalzen Morino gets sent into the future, where he once again meets Taylor Hatake, the older Sakumo and Kakashi. The conflict of how to get him back to his time and how to fix the holes in the fabric of space-time arises. Will they fix everything before it's too late?
1. Back To The Future

**Summary**: Dalzen Morino gets sent into the future, where he once again meets Taylor Hatake, the older Sakumo and Kakashi. The conflict of how to get him back to his time arises and they struggle to find the jutsu again.

**A/N**: A fanfiction to amuse Caliko (creator of _Coushander_) and I (creator of _Into The Past_). Her idea, so thank her for the idea. I never thought about it! And she's the one to get the idea stuck in my head so we're working together on this to create a fanfiction for our amusement. Poor Dalzen, doesn't know what's coming at him.

**Genre**: General

**Disclaimer**: Caliko owns Dalzen, Coushander, Saru-Shin, Kano, Keiko and any others. Taylor Hatake, Daiichi Endo, Yuri Kimura, Kenji and Ayumu, and Kiiro Oshiro belong to me. Any other random characters might be Kishimoto's.

* * *

_Into The Future_

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Chapter One  
**_Back To The Future_**

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Twelve-and-a-half-year-old Sakumo Hatake dashed through the place he and his team were staying at until he found his sensei, Dalzen Morino, in his room getting ready for another day in the Sand.

"Sensei! Senesi!" he tried to snag Dalzen's attention.

Quietly, Dalzen zipped up his vest and looked down at the kid.

"Yes, Sakumo?" he sighed.

"The Hokage sent you something," Sakumo told him, handing him a scroll.

Dalzen took the scroll, somewhat surprised.

"The Hokage?"

Sakumo nodded.

"Mhm."

Sighing, Dalzen opened up the scroll and read it silently to himself. Then, he glanced up in irritation.

"What is it?" Sakumo asked.

"I'm being asked to make a quick trip back to Konoha," he sighed.

"Will you take me with?"

"No, Sakumo!" Dalzen grabbed his gear and slung his bag over his shoulder. "It's only for me. You need to stay here, okay? I'll have Murasaki keep watch over you guys."

Dalzen began walking out of his room and he headed for the door. Sakumo followed quietly.

"I'll be back within a week, okay Sakumo? Tell Keiko that I'm gone."

"Yes sir," Sakumo looked down and sighed.

Dalzen bowed slightly and left to tell Murasaki and then the Kazekage.

.

On his way back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Dalzen saw two Tower genin (which of whom looked oddly like Uchiha, despite the color of their hair) with a giant scroll. He just glanced at them and looked forward again, not wanting to ask what two Tower genin were doing out in the desert. One boy, with blonde hair and freckles dotting his cheeks, looked up at the tall man and snickered.

"Hey Ayumu, let's use this one on that guy over there," he whispered, pointing at a jutsu and then at Dalzen.

Ayumu, a boy with sandalwood-brown hair, looked up.

"Yeah," he grinned with agreement. "C'mon, let's trail him and do this, Kenji."

Both Ayumu and Kenji jumped up and followed Dalzen at a distance until they got the hand signs for the jutsu down. Then, they confronted him.

"Hey you! With the jet-black hair!" Kenji called out.

Dalzen stopped, looked over his shoulder and turned to face the genin.

"What do you two want?" he asked.

"Now Ayumu," Kenji hissed. "While he's distracted."

"What?" Dalzen said with an edge of irritation.

Ayumu began a series of hand signs and they seemingly disappeared. Dalzen furrowed his eyebrows in irritation.

"Troublemakers," he grumbled in irritation.

Something felt off and he noticed a little bit of the landscape changed. There were new rocks on the ground, not there before. And, it felt oddly humid. _Alrighty then, _he thought._ Must be a genjutsu. Okay, I'll play along with it._

.

Sixteen-year-old Taylor Hatake was returning from a mission with her teammates Yuri Kimura and Daiichi Endo when Dalzen found them.

The mission itself was nothing much, just taking a lost item back to someone that visited the Leaf. And oddly enough...the mission took longer than they had expected, since they were ambushed on their way to that person's village. As usual, Taylor took the brunt of the injuries because she was the leader of the group and because she was trying to protect her comrades. Boy, she takes after her father alright. For a week, she had to rest before they could make the return trip home because she landed funny on her ankle and sprained it badly, and also was knocked out from a lack of chakra. When she finally woke up, she was told what happened and she laughed at it.

"That's so typical of me!" she had laughed.

They stayed at a motel that wasn't very popular, it was still a good place as it was nice and quiet (and also had a hot spring, to Taylor's delight), until she could walk without crutches. When she could, they immediately left. Unfortunately for Taylor's teammates, she still had a bad limp so they had to walk slow so she wouldn't get upset at them for leaving her behind.

"So...Taylor...want to get ramen?" Daiichi asked Taylor as they walked down the path to the village that morning.

"I've had enough ramen for one week," she groaned. "I just want steak that was made by my grandpa. Besides, after I get this report to Tsunade, I'm going home, taking a shower and I'm gonna pass out on the couch. I'm no where near hungry."

"Man you suck," Daiichi sighed.

"I'll come with you, Daiichi," Yuri offered.

"Awesome!"

Taylor sighed heavily.

"I don't get why y'all love ramen so much," she grumbled.

Dalzen looked up, having heard her voice. _That voice! But...how?_ This had to be a genjutsu because that voice belonged to a girl he met that was from the future. This had to be a genjutsu! Dalzen tried to break it, but with no luck. Taylor caught his scent and stopped and inhaled it deeply.

"Hm..." she looked over her shoulder. "This scent is oddly familiar."

"Huh?" both boys looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know this scent," she snapped, turning around, kinda glancing at her teammates.

Dalzen looked around. No change! What in the world was going on? Taylor saw him and her eyes widened, instantly recognizing the man.

"Dalzen!" she exclaimed.

The boys stared at her like she was insane. Dalzen looked up and saw her running at him with her arms open. Before he could react, it was too late. She clung to him and hugged him.

"It is you! Still glomp-able too, haha!"

"T-Taylor? But...how?" he wondered.

Dalzen was shocked.

"No, this has to be a genjutsu..." he told himself.

"A genjutsu?" Taylor looked at him, confused. "Dalzen...this isn't a genjutsu..."

"Well if it's not a genjutsu, are you stuck in the past again?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Taylor responded.

Dalzen and Taylor both stared at each other, confused, and Daiichi and Yuri were just as confused as they were.

"What's going on?" both boys asked.

"I dunno," responded both Taylor and Dalzen in confusion.

They were silent for a moment.

"Are you going to the Hokage?" Dalzen asked.

"Yeah. I have to turn in this mission report. Are you suggesting we see who is in that office?"

"Yes, I am."

Taylor grinned.

"Good idea. Let's go then!"

Daiichi and Yuri looked at each other.

"Is anyone gonna fill us in on what's going on?" Yuri asked them.

"Come with us and we'll explain," Taylor ordered.

"Fiiiine," Yuri sighed and he and Daiichi followed them into the village.

.

"This is my friend, Dalzen Morino. Almost three years ago, we met in...a weird situation," Taylor explained. "I had an excursion into the past and for nearly two months, I was stuck there, living with my great-grandfather. Dalzen was there to take me out of my great-grandfather's hair for a few hours."

"Yeah, and that did not work out like I had intended," Dalzen mentioned. "The weather got screwball within the second to third week."

"Yeah, I think after we sparred a bit it'd started snowing," Taylor remembered.

"Snow in November," Dalzen remarked. "I couldn't really believe it."

"Neither could I. I still think about that and I wonder what was mother nature thinking, going off her meds?" Taylor admitted.

"We were all thinking that," Dalzen looked at Taylor.

"Oh! I remember the snow in November," Daiichi said. "We missed a ton of school because of that and the other snowstorms we had that winter. It's a surprise Yuri and I even graduated on time."

"Yeah really," Taylor agreed.

"So what we're going to get at, we're not sure if y'all are stuck in the past or if I'm in the future."

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. "Which is why he's coming with us to the Hokage. In his time, the Hokage is Tobirama Senju, while in our time it's Tsunade Senju."

Daiichi and Yuri were confused but they nodded, acting like they knew what Taylor and the stranger were talking about.

"It's...hard to explain," Taylor mentioned.

"Obviously," Daiichi grumbled.

.

As they approached the Hokage's building, Taylor's heart filled with dread because she was scared that she and her team were trapped in the past again.

Like it was two-and-a-half years ago, only it was her then.

Every bit of that situation played in her dreams every night. It wasn't exactly easy on her, considering she nearly died and was especially prone to getting anxious and scared at that time. She was especially anxious since she couldn't go out into public much in fear that she'd mess up the timeline and she'd hurt Sakumo. She didn't want the whole situation to happen all over again, as much as she missed Coushander and Dalzen and Saru-Shin.

While Taylor was worrying, Dalzen was quiet and calm. He wasn't as worried about it as Taylor was because he wasn't all that easy to worry to begin with.

They got upstairs to Tsunade's office and Taylor went to knock.

"L-Lady Tsunade?"

"Come in."

That was definitely not Nidaime's voice.

"Oh great!" he muttered.

Without a word, Taylor opened the door and walked in. Dalzen and the boys stayed at the door.

"My mission report," she told the hokage, handing her the report.

"Thank you, Taylor," Tsunade thanked her.

Dalzen peered in. That really wasn't Nidai. Long, blonde hair tied back in pigtails and well, obviously this was a woman. Didn't Taylor call her Lady Tsunade? Dalzen didn't have time to think because the Hokage caught sight of his face.

"Uhm," Tsunade looked at Dalzen. "Who are you?"

Taylor looked behind her and saw Dalzen. She knew at some point she was gonna have to tell Tsunade, why not make it now?

"Oh, he's my friend..." she introduced. "Dalzen..."

"Dalzen Morino," he finished for Taylor.

Tsunade looked at him.

"Morino?" she repeated.

"He's not from our time though," Taylor mentioned quickly. "Remember 2 1/2 years ago when I was gone for almost two months?"

"Yeah? Barely...?"

"He...he's a friend of my great-grandfather and my great-granduncle. He was also my grandfather's sensei and he worked in the Intelligence division here in Konoha...like about fifty years ago..." Taylor tried to explain.

"There's been another accident, it appears, concerning the timeline," he finished for Taylor.

"I'm still trying to figure out why you thought it was a genjutsu!" Taylor grinned. "Wow, typical Dalzen."

Tsunade was slightly surprised.

"Ah! I see. Dalzen Morino, a genjutsu expert. The greatest of his time."

"I wouldn't consider myself that great but okay," Dalzen said.

"You're mentioned in the academy when we're learning about genjutsu," Taylor told him.

"Really?" Dalzen remarked.

She nodded.

"When I was little, I'd pass by a class that was focusing on genjutsu and I know I heard your name a few times. Actually, your name stuck with me because I liked your name..." she told him. "I still do. Just so fun to say. _Dalzen_."

"That's weird to think about but I will take your word for it."

Tsunade smiled.

"Thank you, Taylor, for informing me and for your mission report," she thanked.

Taylor nodded and the Hokage looked down to try and decipher Taylor's chicken-scratch handwriting.

"Uhm...Lady Tsunade...don't we have a jutsu to send him back?" Taylor asked.

Tsunade looked back up at her.

"Oh dear...I'm sorry Taylor, Mr. Morino. I'm afraid I burned the scroll in hopes of preventing this from ever happening again. I'm so sorry...I never thought it would happen again, I guess I should've remembered this was around in my uncle's time..." she apologized.

Dalzen looked at Taylor, wondering what he was gonna do. Taylor just nodded at Tsunade.

"Alright."

"Uhm Mr. Morino..."

"Please call me Dalzen, ma'am," he interjected.

"Dalzen...I know it'll be a long stay, considering you might not have a chance of getting back home...Where you're gonna be returned home like Taylor was or not is a question that can't be answered at the moment. But, if you'd like to... you can retake the jounin exam and I can make you a shinobi for this time?"

He glanced at Taylor, who shrugged.

"I don't think it'd hurt. It's not like you'll mess up the past by doing that," she told him.

Dalzen glanced back at Tsunade.

"Alright, I suppose it's okay," he agreed. "Thank you, Lady Hokage."

"No problem. I'll summon you when the preparations are done for the exam."

"Yes ma'am."

He and Taylor bowed and left. Daiichi and Yuri looked at each other.

"You two, go get your damn ramen," Taylor dismissed them.

"Yes, Taylor-Sama," they said, dashing out.

Taylor folded her arms and sighed heavily.

"And my plans for a nice rest goes down the drain..." she grumbled.

"Sorry," Dalzen apologized.

"Not your fault, Dalzen," Taylor walked away. "Come on, Dalzen-Sensei...guess you're staying with us."

She beckoned for him to follow her. Not knowing what else to do, Dalzen followed her.

"You sure, Taylor?"

Taylor glanced over her shoulder with an assuring grin.

"Absolutely," she said. "I'd do anything for a friend. Besides, it's not like you have anywhere else to stay. All the motels here are packed tightly at this time of year and you can't get a room unless you want to share with a complete and total stranger, or strangers."

"Yeah...no thanks," Dalzen agreed with her point. "I don't really care much for crowds."

"Good." Taylor looked forward and led him back to her house.

.

When they got home, Taylor called out, "_Tadaima_!"

No response.

"Oh wow, I guess Grandpa is asleep and Dad's outside... Sit down, Dalzen. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Reluctantly, he nodded.

"Right..." he took off his sandals and sat down on the couch.

"I'll be right back." Taylor grinned and dashed down the hallway to Sakumo's room. She opened the door and jumped on him.

"Grandpa!"

He didn't open his eyes at first, so Taylor grabbed a pillow off the floor and smacked him playfully with it.

"Grandpa, you need to wake up!"

Before Taylor could smack him again, Sakumo snatched the pillow from Taylor and threw it on the ground. Then, he groaned.

"What, sweetheart?" he asked, opening his eyes finally.

"Grandpa, we have a predicament," she told him.

.

Dalzen looked around, studying the surroundings. Didn't look too much different from Coushander's living room, but there were some noticeable differences. There was a shelf on the wall in front of him with a picture of Taylor, Sakumo and Kakashi in what appeared to be in the Iwa mountains. They appeared to be geared up to do some skiing, Dalzen assumed. Well, people did go there to do skiing and snowboarding, especially in winter.

The sofa was a different style than what Coushander had. They had a black sofa and one end of it was long enough to allow for someone to sleep. Obviously, that section was meant for a petite person, like Taylor. From what Dalzen remembered, Sakumo and his son were rather tall. Certainly too tall for that section, like Dalzen himself was. Last time he'd checked, he was a whopping 195 centimeters tall! Or, close to it. Definitely too tall for that section.

Before he could glance around some more, he caught voices, one of them belonging to Taylor.

"So, you're telling me Dalzen is trapped in the future with us?" came an obviously groggy voice. That must be Sakumo.

"Yeah."

They came into Dalzen's sight as they spoke.

"And he is sitting on the couch," Taylor added, pointing at Dalzen.

Sakumo looked and was suddenly startled by his sensei.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed. "I thought Taylor was joking."

Dalzen shook his head.

"She isn't," he said. "As much as I wish she was...It's me, Dalzen..."

"How did this even happen?" Sakumo wondered.

Both Dalzen and Taylor were silent. Neither one of them knew how he got in their time.

"I was on my way back from...a mission," he worded carefully, "And I ran past two tower genin. That was the last interaction I had before seeing Taylor in the forest...The genin had a rather large scroll with them...but I had no idea it was likely _that_ scroll."

Sakumo let out a heavy sigh.

"Shit..." he said. "And I gave my copy of the scroll with the jutsu to Tsunade, who burned that and the original. I don't even remember how to do the jutsu..."

"I guess I really am stuck," Dalzen sighed.

"It's alright, Dalzen" Sakumo assured. "We'll find a way to get you back. For now, please stay with us.

Dalzen nodded.

"Taylor already insisted on it. But, thank you both," he thanked them.

"It's nothing, Sensei," Sakumo smiled. "And since I'm up...I'll go start on breakfast."

"I'm assuming you made Dad work in the fields today? Taylor asked.

"Yeah, I did," Sakumo grinned.

"Alright, I guess I'll go infiltrate him," Taylor bowed to Dalzen and Sakumo, then went out through the backdoor.

"Infiltrate?" Dalzen looked at Sakumo.

"She says 'infiltrate' like you do. You see what you did to my granddaughter?" Sakumo grinned.

"'Infiltrate' sounds much better that 'spy'," Dalzen muttered under his breath.

"I know, Sensei." Sakumo grinned.

.

Taylor hid in the wheat, infiltrating Kakashi. She was waiting for the right time to jump out and strike her dad with a hug.

Kakashi was wearing a shirt with patches of light blue sewn on, which was a change from his uniform shirts. Taylor watched as he stood straight, rubbing his forehead. She heard him mumble under his breath.

"Phew! It's hot out here this morning," he commented, looking up at the sky. "Or maybe it's just extremely humid. Looks like it'll rain later."

Taylor looked up too.

"Huh, he's right. Looks like a storm is brewing," she agreed quietly.

Kakashi heard her voice.

"Huh?" he looked around. _Was that Taylor I heard?_ "Taylor?" he called out.

Taylor made herself stay quiet, even though she wanted to start giggling. She covered her mouth and tried to stay quiet.

"Taylor?"

A few moments passed.

"I guess I was imagining things," he chuckled.

Dalzen walked over to Sakumo, who was chuckling, and looked out the kitchen window with him.

"What?" he wondered.

"Kakashi and Taylor. Kakashi is oblivious to Taylor, who's hiding there in the wheat. Actually, that might be why he can't smell her. Her scent is blending in with the wheat," sakumo chuckled. "But Taylor is crouched on all fours like a cat hunting her prey."

Dalzen and Sakumo watched as Kakashi started walking back towards the house and into Taylor's reach. She waited until he was within jumping distance when he was, Taylor jumped out from the wheat and jumped onto Kakashi's back. Dalzen and Sakumo both chuckled a bit as Kakashi stumbled foreward.

"Dammit Taylor," Kakashi laughed. "You stealthy little shit, you got me!"

Taylor giggled and hugged him.

"I'm home Daddy," she grinned.

"Yeah. I-I can see that," he said bringing her back inside with him. "You're so silly!"

"Isn't that just sweet?" he grinned.

Dalzen nodded, "Yeah."

Kakashi came inside with his daughter and sat her back on her feet.

"Go get your shower," he told her. "I know you haven't showered since you left for that mission."

"I know Dad, I was getting there," she smiled and dashed off. Kakashi smiled wearily and looked over at Sakumo and Dalzen.

"Huh?" he was surprised to see Dalzen. "Weren't you...?"

"The one that taught your daughter genjutsu?" Dalzen finished. "Yeah."

"Yeah...that..." Kakashi was confused. "But you're from the past right? My dad's past?"

"Yeah, I am," Dalzen nodded.

"So how are you here?" Kakashi wondered.

"Uh...really, I have no clue how I'm here," Dalzen admitted.

"Dalzen is going to stay with us until we find the jutsu to send him back," Sakumo told his son.

Kakashi nodded.

"If you and Taylor trust it, then I will too," he said.

"Good."

Dalzen sighed a little as he thought about the twelve-and-a-half-year-old Sakumo back in Suna. How was he going to cope with this. Hell if Dalzen knew. All he could hope for was Sakumo then to be alright and Nidai finding out what happened.

.

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	2. What's Going On

_Into The Future_

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Chapter Two

_**What's Going On?**_

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Nidaime paced around his office later on that night, waiting for Dalzen to show up. _Where's Dalzen_? he wondered. _Dalzen is never_ late.

The man looked out the window at the village. The sun was setting, and it's orange rays caused everything to have an orange tint to them. Soon, the sun was hidden behind rain clouds. The Second hoped Dalzen wasn't severely injured or caught in a nasty battle. _I hope you're alright, Mr. Morino_.

.

"I hope you don't mind the couch," Taylor told Dalzen, bringing a blanket and a pillow to him. "We don't have an extra room, unfortunately."

"I'll be fine," he told her. "I've slept on worse."

"Yeah..." Taylor looked down. _I just want you to be as comfortable as possible_, she wanted to say.

She handed Dalzen the pillow and blanket and smiled.

"Thank you, Taylor," he thanked her. "I'm grateful you guys are letting me stay here."

"It's nothing," Taylor smiled.

Dalzen let slip a quick smile and he sat the pillow down where he was going to lay his head and he draped the blanket over himself.

"Sleep well, Dalzen," Taylor grinned.

"Thank you, Taylor."

She bowed and headed into her room. Dalzen laid down on his back and stared blankly at the ceiling. Taylor turned off the hallway light and closed her door.

Dalzen was left alone. Alone to think. He wasn't all that tired yet, so he thought. He thought about his timeline. What did Nidai need him for? Were Sakumo and Keiko okay? What about his wife and kids?_  
_

He put his hands on his face. They're okay. He hasn't been gone that long yet. Well, he's been away from home for a few years. Occasionally, he'd get a letter from his wife and his kids and he'd try to write back as soon as possible.

He sighed. _Go to sleep_, he told himself. _Go to sleep, stop worrying._

Dalzen closed his eyes and dozed off.

.

Taylor tossed and turned in bed. As usual, she wasn't having any luck sleeping. That day, two and a half years ago, continued to haunt her. She still hasn't told Kakashi or Sakumo about it because she didn't like to tell people her problems. Although, they weren't just any people. They were her family, so you would think she would tell them, right? No. As much as she wanted to tell them, she just couldn't bring herself to tell them.

For the past two and a half years, she's been fighting a slight depression and whether she admits it or not, she's got anxiety. She's even had a few panic attacks and every time she did, Sakumo or Kakashi tried to keep her calm, or bring her back to a calm state.

Kakashi had a feeling as to what's causing her panic attacks, but he can't be sure until Taylor tells him.

She wants to, very badly. But she doesn't know how to tell. She needs to though. Literally, Taylor was losing sleep over it. Every night, she worried it would happen again, and she would never make it back this time.

Taylor didn't want it to happen. As much as she missed Coushander, Dalzen and Saru, she couldn't bear the thought of it happening again.

She sat up in her bed and sighed, scratching her head. _I wish I wasn't so anxious_, she thought. _I can't sleep_!

Sighing again, she turned her light back on and pulled out a book to read.

.

Dalzen, Sakumo and Kakashi were all woken up by the sound of Taylor crying out in fear.

Dalzen's eyes flew open. _What the hell was that_? he wondered. Quickly, he sat up and after a few moments he stood up. _Sounded like Taylor. I should see if she's okay because she actually sounded scared._

He headed down the hall and when he got there, he stood outside the door.

"Taylor?" he whispered.

No response. Without thinking, he cautiously opened the door and walked in, only to be greeted by Taylor attempting to attack him with her katana.

Dalzen was able to stop her. He appeared behind Taylor and grabbed her hands, putting one behind her back and the other hand with the katana he had the katana pointing at her head.

"Wake up, Taylor. It's just me, Dalzen."

She opened her eyes, looking startled.

"Huh?"

Finally, Sakumo got to her room and Kakashi just after his father arrived at the room.

"Taylor, are you okay?" Sakumo asked, then noticing Dalzen. "Dalzen?"

"She came at me with her katana," Dalzen explained.

Taylor let go of the black katana and let it clatter on the floor.

"I'm fine," she stuttered. "Just...a bad dream..."

"That looked like it was more than a bad dream," Dalzen grumbled.

Taylor yanked her hands out of Dalzen's tight grip.

"I'm fine," she repeated, looking at them. "I'm sorry I woke you guys."

"Taylor," Kakashi started. "Are you sure?"

Taylor nodded, picking the katana up.

"I'm fine, Dad. Please guys, go back to sleep."

Kakashi sighed heavily.

"Alright..."

Taylor stood up on her toes and gave Kakashi and Sakumo a kiss on their cheek.

"I'm okay," she assured. _Just a little damaged on the inside, though_, she wanted to add.

Kakashi kissed her back and he left with Sakumo. Dalzen stayed, though.

"I hope you don't do that to me every time I do this," he teased her.

"Dammit, I thought you were an intruder," she grumbled.

"It's okay," Dalzen told her. "I am used to being ambushed."

Taylor looked down.

"Please go back to bed," she told him.

"Of course."

Dalzen left and Taylor closed the door behind him. Sighing, she sat down on her bed and held the katana in her hands. That katana was Coushander's and as she looked at it, she could hear him begging her to tell them that no, she's not okay, and then tell them what's going on. _I want to, Coushander, but I can't bring myself to tell them, _she thought. Sighing, she laid it down on the floor beside her bed and laid on her bed.

Dalzen looked at Sakumo and Kakashi.

"What was that all about?" he wondered as they walked towards the kitchen.

"We forgot to mention...she has night terrors," Sakumo explained. "She wakes up screaming late at night."

"But we don't know what the night terrors are about, we just know she's being scared," Kakashi added. "And I know she knows what they're about, but she won't tell us."

"Why? I know she trusts you two," Dalzen wondered.

"She trusts us, but whatever is happening in her dreams, she's too scared to tell us," Sakumo said. "And whatever those things are, it's been affecting her since that predicament."

"It's been affecting her mentally and emotionally," Kakashi added. "She's been having mental breakdowns and we have no idea how to fix it, but we need to figure out how before she has one in front of her teammates or in a battle."

Sakumo sighed.

"I wish she'd tell us so we can help her..."

"It started two and a half years ago?' Dalzen inquired.

"Yeah."

"Well, would it be plausible if it was that whole situation that's been haunting her?" Dalzen proposed his idea.

"That's our theory, but we can't be sure until Taylor actually tells us," Kakashi admitted.

Sakumo sighed again.

"But, we don't want her to know that we've noticed her behavior," he said. "She really won't be will to tell us at all if we press her."

Dalzen nodded.

"Oh, well that makes sense..."

Kakashi sighed and sat down at the table.

Dalzen sat back down on the couch and looked out the window and saw it was raining. He couldn't help but think about when he and Taylor met. He was walking Coushander home and out of the blue, they heard a girl say, "Grandpa". She mistook Coushander for Sakumo, and now that he knew the older Sakumo, he knew why.

When they told her she had the wrong man, she continued past them and headed straight for the elder's house. Both men were confused, but they followed her. She crossed into the elder's land and got to the porch, where she passed out from a lack of blood. Dalzen and Coushander had to take her inside, even though Coushander didn't want anything to do with her, and they had her fixed up by Kano. The next morning, she woke up and as he tried to stop her from running out, she beat on him until he let her go and that was her chance to run, which she most definitely took. Now looking back upon that, it amused Dalzen that he let a little girl beat the hell out of him like that.

As soon as she got him to let her go, he knew that was the force of a shinobi and that girl was a shinobi. When he and Kano convinced Coushander to let her stay with him, Dalzen would take her out of his hair for a few hours.

In all that time Dalzen was with Taylor, not once did it seem like she was scared, other than that first day but that was beside the point.

A loud crash of thunder snapped Dalzen out of his thoughts.

"Man, no more crazy nor'easters!" Sakumo groaned, watching the wheat.

"So, you took over the Hatake business?" Dalzen asked.

Sakumo looked over his shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you grow and sell wheat like your _otousan_?"

"Yeah...I thought it was the least I could do for my old man. Besides, I like the smell of wheat at dawn and dusk," Sakumo responded. "I like doing it."

"Bet your old man would love to know that," Dalzen told Sakumo.

"I'm sure he would, Sensei," Sakumo smiled. "So, Dalzen, what do you want to drink? We've got water, tea, and heck, I've got soda if you're interested."

"I'll pass on the soda, Sakumo," Dalzen said.

"I figured as much but I thought I'd offer anyway. Actually, that's probably wise that you pass on soda...I think that's Taylor's stuff..." Sakumo realized at the end.

"Thank you, though. But I don't care what you bring me as long as it's not soda," Dalzen told Sakumo.

Sakumo chuckled.

"Ah, well you're stuck with tea then," he grinned.

"That's fine, Sakumo.'

.

Taylor finally crawled back out of bed around eleven that morning. She really wasn't feeling well, though, but she came out of her room to eat lunch because she was hungry. Sakumo saw her and could tell she wasn't feeling well.

"You okay?" Sakumo asked her as he cooked.

She leaned against the fridge and shrugged.

"I got out of bed didn't I?"

"In other words, you're not feeling well."

"I think it's my allergies," Taylor admitted. "It's just my sinuses, my head and my throat."

"Go take your medicine then."

"I don't have any left. Daiichi accidentally threw away the bottle thinking that it was empty."

"Are you kidding me? That was a new bottle!"

"Sorry...I didn't notice until half-way home when we got to the forest."

Sakumo groaned.

"Damn kids..." he grumbled.

Dalzen looked at them.

"If you want, I can walk her down to the village to get another thing of allergy meds," he offered.

Sakumo glanced at his sensei.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want you to feel like you have to. I mean, Taylor is 16, she should be able to go by herself."

He looked at the girl. Taylor's arms were behind her back as she shyly glanced at him. He couldn't tell whether or not she wanted company, but Dalzen felt that she did.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Dalzen nodded. "Besides...I can get to know the future Konoha in the process."

"Alright..." Sakumo looked at Taylor. "Taylor, are you okay with Dalzen escorting you?"

She shrugged.

"Yeah. That's fine."

Dalzen stood up.

"Go get what you need from my wallet, okay?" Sakumo told Taylor.

"Yes Grandpa."

Taylor left to go search for Sakumo's wallet and Dalzen glanced at him.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm pretty stressed," Sakumo admitted. "Not knowing what's wrong with Taylor is driving me nuts."

He looked down.

"I might say it a lot, but I do wish she'd tell us what's wrong with her," he told his sensei.

"I understand," Dalzen said with a sigh. "I would probably feel the same way if one of my kids was behaving like Taylor — the night terrors and the mental breakdowns — and not tell me what was wrong. I guess I'd be a bit worried too."

Taylor returned with enough yen to buy allergy meds.

"C'mon Dalzen...if you want to still come," Taylor said in her very quiet voice.

Dalzen walked over to her and they both slipped their sandals on.

"We'll be back," Taylor told Sakumo.

"Alright. Thanks Dalzen," Sakumo smiled.

"It's nothing, Sakumo."

.

Twelve-year-old Sakumo ate his bento box at lunch with Keiko, his teammate, and Murasaki, the girl watching over the two.

"Hey Murasaki, shouldn't Sensei be back by now?" he asked.

Murasaki glanced up.

"It's a special mission from intel, Sakumo," she said. "He might not be back for a few weeks."

Sakumo looked down.

"Oh...right...a special mission." he stuck a bit of rice in his mouth. "Sorry..."

.

Nidai went to the intelligence ward and asked if anyone had seen or heard from Dalzen. He got pretty much the same answers.

"Sorry sir, Dalzen hasn't been here in like, forever!"

"Nope, no sign of the Morino!"

"Geez, I haven't thought about him in a while..."

Then came the Uchiha's answers...

"Oh! Morino is missing? Good for him..."

Nidai had to take that as a definite no. But something told him the Uchiha knew something he didn't. But, the second Hokage didn't press them. He wasn't sure if they knew something or not, They probably didn't. Dalzen tended to stay away from the Uchiha anyway.

He sighed. Maybe Dalzen will show up soon. Nidaime could only hope.

.

Dalzen and Taylor walked in silence. Together, they went into the store when they got there and Taylor looked around till she found the allergy medicines, which she grabbed a bottle of one and payed for it. Then, they headed back out. It wasn't five minutes before Taylor caught sight of Kiiro's Arts and Crafts store and remembered she needed something.

"Dalzen, do you mind if I go into the art store over there for a moment? I need more bristol board."

"I have no idea what that means, but I guess so," he nodded.

"Great!' Taylor led him into the store and she went looking for her stuff. Dalzen knew this store was something else before it became the art store, but he had no clue what was there before. He glanced around. He hadn't the foggiest about art, all he knew was Taylor was great at it.

"Need help looking for something?"

Dalzen turned around and saw a woman with greying, brown hair and emerald eyes. She wore a violet, low-collar blouse with fish-net underneath that had a normal collar. The woman smiled at him.

"Ah...no... I-I don't need help... I'm just here with..." he thought for a moment. He and Coushander were good friends, so could he be her uncle? Maybe. He just went with it. "With my niece. She needed something so I brought her here."

The woman kept the smile on her face.

"Oh, I see."

Taylor bounded over to them with two bristol board sketchbooks.

"Afternoon, Kiiro-San," Taylor ginned.

"Ah! Good afternoon, Taylor. Got what you need?" the woman looked at Taylor.

"Yeah," she pulled out her wallet and pulled out the money to pay for the sketchbooks.

"2000 yen for 2 22.9 x 30.5cm sketchbooks?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Right."

She handed the 2000 yen over to Kiiro and grinned.

"Thank you Miss Taylor," Kiiro smiled.

"Are you ready now?" Dalzen asked Taylor.

"Yes, Dalzen," Taylor nodded.

Kiiro looked at Dalzen.

"Oh? Is this your niece?"

"Not technically."

"I just say you're a friend," Taylor shrugged. "But family works just as well."

"Oh, I see. Wonder why I haven't seen him before."

"Because...he isn't from this time," Taylor explained. "He taught my grandfather, to give you an idea of what time he's from."

"I see." She looked at Dalzen. "I'm Kiiro, I'm the art store owner."

"Dalzen Morino," Dalzen said his name for the umpteenth time in 24 hours. Man, he's said and heard his name so many times in the last 24 hours, he really would be unlikely to forget his own name. Well, as if he could forget his name.

"Pleased to meet you," Kiiro smiled.

"Likewise," Dalzen returned the smile quickly.

"So, I guess this is another time incident?" Kiiro asked.

"Yeah, but we don't know who did it, exactly," Dalzen said.

"Oh, how I love a good mystery..." Kiiro smiled. "Too bad Tsunade burned the scrolls with the time jutsu, at least the ones in the village."

"Yeah..."

Kiiro thought for a moment.

"Have you guys started sending the other Kage messages, asking who might have a scroll with a similar jutsu?" Kiiro asked.

"You know, that never even crossed our minds," Taylor realized.

"Good idea," Dalzen agreed, looking at Taylor. "Think we should do that?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Thank you Kiiro-san. We never even thought about that."

"It's no problem Miss Taylor," Kiiro smiled.

Taylor hugged her and she returned the hug.

"Hey, you need to show me what you've been doing," Kiiro suggested.

"Okay, I'll bring my binder over in the next week or two," Taylor promised.

"Great," Kiiro smiled. "I'll see y'all later then."

"See ya!" Taylor smiled, bowing and leaving. Dalzen did the same and followed Taylor out.

.

By the time they got home, lunch was done. Taylor walked inside and took her allergy medicine with a cold glass of water and she sighed heavily.

"Man, my allergies are really killin' me!" she grumbled. "I can't breathe from my nose right now."

"Aw," Sakumo chuckled. "Should'a told them to stay out of your stuff."

"But that's the thing! I did tell them," Taylor said. "After I woke up from being unconscious, of course. Did I mention I sprained my ankle and was knocked out?"

"Wow, they suck at listening then. And no, you didn't. That would explain the bad limp you have right now."

"Yeah, they do. And yeah...hurts like hell to walk but I don't care."

"Well then, will you get the dishes out and go get your father from his room please?'

"Yes Grandpa."

Taylor pulled out dished for them to eat from and chopsticks/spoons, then went to her father's room and knocked on his door.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Lunch."

"Okay, thank you sweetheart."

"No problem, Daddy."

.

.


	3. I See You Jounin

_Into The Future_

.

Chapter Three

_**I See You, Jounin**_

.

.

"So, we have an idea of what we can do to find the jutsu," Taylor told Sakumo and Kakashi at lunch. "I'd stopped off at Kiiro's to get more bristol board and she met Dalzen and I had to explain to her how he's here and she asked if we have started asking the other kages and leaders of the small villages and kingdoms."

"And we said, no, the thought never had crossed our minds," Dalzen continued for Taylor.

"So, we need to start writing to the other kage and leaders," Taylor finished.

Sakumo and Kakashi looked at each other.

"Wow, none of us thought of that," Kakashi said.

"That's why we love Kiiro, she always knows what to do. Reminds me of Guinan from Star Trek," Sakumo smiled. "Great idea!"

Taylor smiled.

"I've for the four other main kage," Taylor called dibs.

"I've got the kingdoms," Kakashi called.

"Guess I've got minor shinobi villages," Sakumo grumbled.

Dalzen looked at them.

"Do you guys need help?" he asked.

"Nah, I've got four letters to write. I've written 100 pages for a book in two days before so four letters should be a breeze," Taylor grinned.

"I'll be fine," Sakumo assured.

"Nah, there's only two kingdoms to write to," Kakashi said.

"But thank you, Dalzen-Sensei," Taylor smiled.

"Alright, if you guys say so," Dalzen shrugged.

.

Taylor spent the afternoon writing the letters to the Raikage and the Kazekage, up until her hand began to cramp up from the writing.

"Ow!" Dropping the brush on her desk, Taylor gripped her wrist and clenched and unclenched her hand.

"Dammit. It's RMI again," she groaned, standing up and walking over to her dresser where she kept a navy blue hand brace. Picking it up, she slipped it onto her hand and strapped it up. "Guess I'll take a break..."

She looked at the letter she had actually finished and tied it up. Then, she walked over to her bed and opened the window carefully. With a whistle, she then summoned her owl, Michiko. Taylor stood back to allow her little owl to come in. The owl swooped in with her majestic wings and landed on Taylor's arm.

"Hey, take this to the Raikage," she ordered in a soft voice, offering a bit of sugar for the beautiful barn owl as a treat. Dalzen just so happened by her room when he saw Michiko lick the sugar from her hand and take the scroll from her. He stopped at her door and watched silently.

"There you go, Michiko," Taylor smiled. "Thank you."

The owl gave a curt nod and took off back through the open window and Taylor sighed, rubbing her hand.

"Stupid repetitive motion injury," she cursed out the injury, turning around and jumping at the sight of Dalzen. "Gah! What the heck?! Dalzen! You startled me."

"Sorry," Dalzen apologized. He worded his next question as carefully as possible, "So...Taylor...was that an _owl_ I caught sight of?"

"An owl? Oh! Yes, but it's not Hoshu, oh believe me. I've checked, and that's a girl. Plus, she's too white to be Hoshu," Taylor explained. "By the way, her name's Michiko. Not Hoshu."

"Oh."

"But...I do want to say that you got me into owls, a bit," Taylor admitted. "I wanted one to remember you by and once I had Michiko, I became pretty fascinated with them. I love owls like I love any other animal really, except I _love_ cats and I absolutely _hate_ spiders. I just can't stand spiders and snakes. Still scared of them, even after nearly three years."

Dalzen let slip a little laugh.

"Still the Taylor I remember," he remarked. "Scared of spiders and snakes. Typical..."

Taylor grinned and giggled when he realized she had said that he got her into animals.

"Aw! I think I see a little bit of blush," she grinned.

"I'm not —"

"I'm teasing," Taylor walked towards him and hugged him. "But I'm serious about wanting to remember you.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Taylor smiled. "You're really kind to me and you helped me practice genjutsu."

Dalzen couldn't find a response, but Taylor wasn't expecting one. Instead, she let go of him and with a smile, she walked away to get a fruit to snack on.

Dalzen never would have thought that she would try to remember him like that, but he smiled a bit. _You're too kind_, he wanted to say to her.

.

Taylor went outside and sat alone on the porch after supper. As he washed the dishes, Kakashi glanced out the window at his daughter sitting alone. At one point, he even dried his hands off just to check on her. Her response, figures, was an unbelieveable, "I'm fine" so he sighed and went back to finish washing dishes. Dalzen noticed and walked over to Kakashi.

"I'm gonna see what's on her mind," he said.

Kakashi rinsed the dishe he was working on, "You sure?"

"Yeah," Dalzen nodded. "Maybe she'll finally tell what's on her mind if I ask her..."

Kakashi put the dish in the dish drainer.

"Well, if you really think she'll tell you, then go ahead. She hasn't told us, so that's why I'm a bit skeptical about it."

Dalzen nodded.

"I can't say I blame you," he said, walking away and going out to join Taylor.

The door opened, but Taylor didn't turn to see who it was. Moments later, she was joined by Dalzen. He sat down beside her and stared at the wheat with her.

"You okay?" he asked.

Taylor looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine Dalzen," she lied, looking back.

He looked at her seriously.

"Are you lying to me?" he asked. "C'mon, something's up and I can tell."

Taylor gave no response. Instead, she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them.

"Tell me...what's wrong?" Dalzen suggested. Well, he wasn't giving her the choice of telling him or not really.

She still gave no response because she knew that she would start crying. She was doing everything in her power to _not_ start crying.

"You know, Sakumo and Kakashi are deeply concerned about you. Not telling them what's wrong with you worries them more than whatever is actually bothering you," Dalzen told her.

Finally, she gave a response.

"I didn't want to worry them," she choked out, starting to tremble. "But I at the same time...I want to tell them...but I can't bring myself to do so..."

"Tell them what? Hey, you can tell me," Dalzen assured.

Taylor buried her face in her knees and started crying.

"What's wrong?"

After a few moments she brought herself to tell him. Once she finished, Dalzen had no clue how to respond. He wasn't a counselor, nor was he a psychiatrist, but he listened to Taylor telling him what was going on the past 2 1/2 years.

"D-Do you want me to go get your father and your grandfather so you can tell them?" he asked after a few minutes of thinking.

Taylor didn't say anything.

"I'm gonna get your father and your grandfather. Is that okay?"

Taylor shrugged her shoulders like, "I don't care."

"Alright," Dalzen stood up and went inside. Moments later, he returned with Sakumo and Kakashi, both anxious to hear.

Kakashi and Sakumo sat on either side of her and Dalzen crouched in front of them.

"Want to tell us what's wrong?" Sakumo asked.

Taylor swallowed hard, trying to speak through her tears.

"I've been..." she put her hand on her head. "J-Just...s-scared..."

"Scared? About what, sweetheart?" Kakashi asked.

Taylor sniffled and trembled a bit more.

"What? Please tell us!" Sakumo pleaded.

"Tell them what you told me," Dalzen ordered Taylor in a soft voice. _I'm no counselor but I want her to get her feelings out to her folks so they aren't so worried anymore,_ he thought. _I would want Sakumo to do the same if I couldn't get Teal or Hoshi to tell me what was on their minds._

"That...it could happen again to me, but this time I can't get back home," Taylor started crying again. "Dammit," she cursed under her breath at herself.

"What could happen?" Sakumo asked.

"Going into the past?" Kakashi asked.

Taylor nodded.

"The whole situation still lingers," she choked out, cursing herself again for crying. "It's followed me into my dreams, which is the main cause of my night-terrors...and...I have troubles getting to sleep most of the time because of that..."

She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand in frustration with herself for not telling Kakashi or Sakumo. It was a surprise unto itself how she's managed to keep it to herself for so long, and Kakashi and Sakumo mused about it in their minds for a moment.

"I didn't mean to worry you guys," she continued. "I'm sorry I didn't tell y'all sooner..."

"Taylor, not telling us worries us more than what you have to say," Sakumo told her, not realizing Dalzen had said that earlier.

"And yeah, you really should have told us sooner," Kakashi added, putting his hand on her back and he started rubbing her back gently. "But...thank you for finally telling us," he looked down at Dalzen. "And thanks Dalzen, for actually getting her to say something."

The dark-haired man smiled a bit.

"It's nothing. I wanted to know what was going on myself so I thought I'd try," he admitted.

Taylor nodded and Kakashi put his arms around her and allowed her to cry. She probably needed it. Dalzen stood up and went up the stairs to allow her to cry in peace with her dad and grandpa. He went inside and went to the bathroom to wash his face with hot water. Silently, he splashed the hot water on his face and dried it off with a towel. Then, he looked at himself in the mirror. _I wonder why Taylor was actually willing to tell me what was wrong with her,_ he wondered. _Did she finally realize she needed to get it off her chest before her anxiety got any worse? Did she want me to know as well as her folks, or did she tell me with the hopes I would tell them myself?_

Heck if he knew. Taylor was a private person, so who knows why she actually told him first. Taylor probably didn't even know why she did. He didn't know Taylor all that well, so there were probably many factors involved with the reason why she did it, but Dalzen was too tired to think about it. Without a word, he turned off the lights and walked back out and went to go lay on the couch. At about the same time, Kakashi and Sakumo were bringing Taylor inside and Kakashi went over to the cabinets and pulled out a box of koala no machi, one of Taylor's favorite snacks, and he gave the box to her in hopes she would calm down.

"Here," he smiled softly, handing the box to her. "Calm down some while Grandpa and I talk, okay?"

"Yes Daddy," she obediently took the box from Kakashi and started eating from the box. Sighing, both men walked out of the kitchen but they stayed where they could see Taylor. They lowered their voices.

"So now we have two problems," Sakumo said. "Trying to fix Taylor AND finding a way for Dalzen to go back to his time."

"Sounds fun," Kakashi grumbled. "Yeah, I think fixing Taylor will be so much easier."

"Part of me says you're right. The other says that we'll get Dalzen back before we fix Taylor," Sakumo admitted. "She's so messed up right now, I'm not sure which one we'll fix first."

"That's pretty sad!" Kakashi laughed.

"Yeah it is," Sakumo chuckled.

"I heard that," Taylor grumbled.

Kakashi spun around.

"Hey! I told you to calm down," he reminded.

"Sorry," she grumbled, eating a little more of her candy.

"Good," Kakashi smiled. "Now, when you are calm, I want you to go to bed because that's what you obviously need. Alright?"

"Yes Daddy."

She finally calmed down and went to bed. Soon, Kakashi, Dalzen and Sakumo all followed suit, crawling into their own beds.

.

Taylor got up early the next morning and she slipped into uniform just as she remembered she had two more letters to write. Sighing, she sat down at her desk and wrote the last two quickly. Then, she summoned Michiko and sent her off with one of the letters. When the little barn owl left, Taylor grabbed the black katana and went out past the fields to train. In the process, she woke up Dalzen but as soon as the back door closed, he fell back asleep until he was woken up again half an hour later when she came inside for water.

Dalzen laid still on the couch, trying to make sure Taylor didn't know that she woke him up. She opened the water bottle and drank about a third of it in just under a minute. When she finished drinking the one-third, she pulled the bottle away from her mouth and swallowed, releasing a content sigh and wiping her mouth with the back of her wrist. "Mmm.."

After a moment, she walked back outside and kept training. Dalzen sat up. _What the heck is she doing up so early?_ he wondered. He rose to his feet and silently made his way to the back door and he went out. Dalzen stepped on the porch and looked around for Taylor. _Where is_ _she_?

It didn't take long for him to find the answer. Taylor was running around on the fence, chasing around what appeared to be a clone of herself. _What are you doing?_

The clone jumped down on the outside of the fence and Taylor jumped onto her back. Without a word, she took her katana and with one swipe, she sliced the clone in half, which made it dissipate into a cloud of dust. Taylor fell to the ground in a crouch. After a minute, another clone came out from the wheat and attacked her. Taylor jumped up and dodged her clone's attack. Another came out of a tree and went at Taylor. The real Taylor grabbed her clone's wrist and slung her into the other one and both clones dissipated. _Oh...she's training_, Dalzen realized.

After that last move, Taylor had defeated all of her clones.

"Oh!" Taylor let out a relieved sigh. "Finally, I'm done."

Dalzen went back inside before she caught him. _She sometimes bears a scary resemblance to Saru,_ he thought. _She really does. I wonder how Coushander felt when he realized she reminded him of Saru._ Sighing, he laid back down on the couch and tried to go back to sleep.

.

"Dalzen," Taylor poked his arm. "Dalzen wake up."

Dalzen opened his eyes.

"Huh?" his weary gaze fell upon Taylor, who was crouched beside him, smiling.

"Wake up," she said. "You've got your jounin exam today."

Dalzen sat up quickly.

"What?"

"You have your jounin exam in an hour and a half. You're gonna want to eat, you're gonna be doing a lot of thinking. It's the really stupid written exam, not fighting which, personally I think it sucks because I know you don't want to be answering stupid questions. I sure as heck didn't..." Taylor explained. "And I had both the fighting and the written portions."

Dalzen watched as Taylor stood up and it took a moment for him to realize what she was hinting at towards the end.

"Wait! You're a —"

"A Jounin?" Taylor grinned. "Yes indeed!"

"Since when?"

"Since just a bit before I was fourteen," Taylor responded.

The last time he saw her before this, she was a chuunin. Now she's a jounin?! Geez, a lot can really happen in 2 1/2 years!

"Don't think that when I'm depressed I still can't be an awesome shinobi, Dalzen," Taylor grinned. "Actually, when I'm working on missions, I forget my troubles. I focus on my tasks and I just forget."

The dark-haired man shook his head.

"I was never suggesting that," he responded.

A wry chuckle rose in this throat.

"I was just...slightly surprised," he worded carefully. "I haven't seen you since...you've grown, obviously, but definitely not physically because you're still the same height," he teased her at the end.

"Shuddup," Taylor grumbled. "I resent that."

"But uhm...in a serious note, congrats. I know you are a great Jounin," Dalzen finished with a smile for the sweet girl.

"Th-Thanks..." Taylor pulled Dalzen to his feet. "Go eat. Breakfast is done."

Dalzen stood up and went into the kitchen while Taylor dashed off to get her dad.

.

The escorted Dalzen to Tsunade so he could take the exam. Taylor was in her full uniform; a short-sleeved indigo turtleneck underneath the standard Konoha Jounin vest and a pair of indigo pants and wrappings around her ankles and her right thigh. Taylor alternated between the standard Konoha vest and the much simpler vest that was similar to what Dalzen wore.

That was basically her Jounin uniform.

Taylor still felt very short, considering she hasn't grown much since they last met. At one point, she even folded her arms and frowned at the ground as she mused about how little she's grown. She still has the climb the counters just to get to the bowls, which were more in her dad and grandfather's reach.

"What are you glaring at the ground for?" the dark-haired man wondered.

"Oh uhmm...no particular reason," Taylor shrugged. "J-Just thinking about how_ little_ I've grown."

"Oh." Dalzen nodded. "You definitely are still pretty short."

"I'm the same exact height I was when you last saw me," Taylor grumbled. "157 centimeters."

"157 centimeters still," Dalzen remarked. "And you're 16?"

"Yeah.." Taylor sighed.

"Maybe you're stuck like that then. I mean, you're a girl and most girls aren't that tall to begin with. Although, Kano is pretty tall. But you might also be short because remember Saru-Shin? Remember how short he was?"

"Yeah."

"It's no surprise that you're short," Dalzen shrugged his shoulders, then looked at Taylor, still glaring at the ground. "At least you're not 195 centimeters like I am," he added. "Knowing your luck you'd be covered in bruises and I'd be surprised if you didn't have a concussion from hitting your head every time you went into a room. I mean...I've seen you trip over your own feet and bang your knee on your desk trying to get either in or out of your seat."

"It doesn't take much for me to hurt myself," Taylor muttered.

"And you'd be a lot worse if you were my height," Dalzen teased.

"I know," Taylor said. "I would be happy if I was 170 centimeters. Not too tall and not too short," she grinned.

"Hm..." Dalzen nodded.

They got to the testing site and were greeted by Tsunade.

"Ah, good morning Dalzen and Taylor," she greeted.

"Morning," they both responded.

"Read for the Jounin exam, Dalzen?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Taylor and Dalzen turned to each other and nodded.

"Good luck, Dalzen-Sensei," Taylor grinned.

"...Thank you, Taylor-San," he replied.

Taylor gave him a thumbs up and allowed Tsunade to take Dalzen away.

.

Once he started his exam, he immediately knew what Taylor was talking about when she say there were some stupid questions like, _what is your rank_?

_Gee, I don't know. Gennin_? Dalzen rolled his eyes. _I am a Jounin_, he wrote down, being serious this time.

It took him a little over an hour to do the exam.

.

He opened the door and saw Taylor leaning against the wall, reading a book with the title of, _Natsume's Book of Friends. _Silently, she flipped the page and mouthed the words on the next page to herself.

"Taylor."

She looked up and snapped the book closed.

"Done?"

"Yeah."

She slid her book into her pouch and stood straight.

"Great," she smiled. "C'mon."

"Right..." Dalzen followed her back, and told her about the stupid questions on it.

"Right?" Taylor laughed. "Tsunade puts math questions on the exams, you know, to keep you on your toes!"

Dalzen nodded.

"Yeah, I guess that's a good reason to stick a few _algebraic_ equations on there," he grumbled. "I'm lucky I figured out how to solve for 'y'."

Taylor giggled and nodded.

"That's good I guess."

.

.


	4. Beyond the Stream of Time

**A/N: **I do not take credit for the scene with the elder Morino and his grandson (and well, the part when he first entered Intel ):D Kariko wrote that scene for me (and I'm glad she did because when she mentioned that she wanted to do something with Ibiki and Dalzen, I knew that was something that she was gonna write for me to include c: I'm sure she was gonna do it anyway, even if I didn't mention a collab with her. :3 ) and so I incorporated it. :D Thanks! Lol Dalzen being terrified of conversation and I laughed when Ibiki pulled out the handcuffs. Dalzen: "...Oh..." *sweat drop* That was funny :D

* * *

Into_ The Future_

.

.

Chapter Four  
**_Beyond The Stream of Time_**

.

About a week passed before Dalzen got any word as to if he was still a Jounin.

The test was stupid, but he understood Tsunade wanting him to do it. It was security reasons, and that was an acceptable reason according to Dalzen.

The fifth hokage summoned him and Taylor didn't come with him when he went out this time, since she wasn't feeling too well (for reasons best left unknown to the Morino) and also because he felt better about going by himself around the futuristic Konoha. Still uncomfortable, since he was trying to avoid seeing Teal and Hoshi, his children. He wasn't sure if he could mess up the future with that.

When he got there, Tsunade confirmed that he's still a Jounin. Then, he thought he'd ask about Intel.

"I was getting there," Tsunade smiled, opening a drawer and pulling out a slip. Then, she picked up her pen and signed it.

"You start tomorrow," she promised, handing it to him.

Dalzen took it and nodded.

"Alright...thank you," he bowed.

Tsunade gave a small smile, "It's nothing, Dalzen."

He then returned to the Hatake house and heard Taylor in her room.

A messenger bird scraped at her window and Taylor rolled over to face the window. She sat up tiredly and looked. The bird scratched the window again.

"Oh..."

She unlocked her window and opened it and took the letter gently.

"Thank you," she bowed her head.

The bird nodded and flew off and Taylor closed the window. She opened the scroll, sent by the Raikage himself.

Basically, it read as, "Dear Taylor Hatake, I'm sorry to say that we don't have such a scroll as you described in our archives. Please give your friend our regards, though. Sincerely, the Raikage."

Taylor looked down.

"Damn it..." she sat the scroll on her desk. "Well...three other kage to go..."

She stood up and stretched her arms behind her head and sighed.

"Uhg, stupid cramps," she muttered, hugging her sides.

Sighing, she looked at the Nyanko-Sensei, her plush doll, sitting on top of her desk and picked him up.

"_Ikayaki ga na, ikayaki wonchu_," she quoted the cat in the manga series that she reads.

Sensei, technically wasn't a cat. Rather, he was a mighty fierce yet graceful and elegant yokai. But then, he was sealed in a lucky cat container for so long that his body was used to the cat form.

Taylor smiled. He's such a cutie. She never understood why some of the characters thought he was ugly because he was the opposite of that. She hugged him and sat him back down on her desk.

Dalzen peeked into Taylor's room and saw Taylor standing at her desk, thinking about something. He wondered what she was thinking about as he watched her grab something from her basket.

Taylor pulled out a small box of iris incense and lit it with just her chakra. It lit up and Taylor let it burn for about three seconds before she put it out. Then, she stuck it in its holder and went to walk to her door. Dalzen went back to the living room before she could see him.

.

The next morning, Dalzen got up and had breakfast with Sakumo and Kakashi while Taylor rested. After breakfast, he got into uniform.

"Going to Intel?" Sakumo asked.

Dalzen nodded.

"Yeah."

"Alright," Sakumo nodded. "Good luck, Sensei. You're gonna need it."

Dalzen nodded.

"Thank you, Sakumo," he bowed and went out to the village.

.

The tall dark haired man had to ask a passer-by if this was indeed an entrance to the Intel ward. It was. So Dalzen passed through the wide, double doors and about fifty years worth of upgrades.

The place had it's own map, just like the ones he used to draw within these walls whenever he returned from a long mission in a place nobody could pronounce. He'd probably be drawing maps again after the Suna mission was complete in his time. The tall man looked down at all the color-coated lines near his feet and smiled faintly. At least they'd learned some organizational skills in the future.

Dalzen's attention was then diverted above him—cameras (or what looked to be) were perched in the corners, flashing blue lights just like an odd panel on his right, waist high on the wall. And as soon as Dalzen moved past it, a very loud buzzer went off.

Well, that was new!

More lights began flashing crimson red and several chuunin came rushing around the corner, "Halt!" Dalzen raised his hands at once, recognizing a new security feature he'd just toppled. (Wouldn't Saru-Shin be proud.) Then one long blonde-haired man parted the chuunin down the center and gasped—"Y-You're…!"

The blonde-haired man, a jounin, looked at the Morino for a moment and then proceeded to the panel to power off the alarm. "I was warned—I mean told of your arrival," the man announced with a small smile. "Do you have a card with you?"

Dalzen thought—"Oh you mean this?"

Yamanaka Inoichi took the small card and showed it to the panel. Dalzen whistled just for Takato's sake as the card awakened a calm blue glow back upon the screen. Inoichi gave it back, "This man has clearance here. You can go," he told the chuunin. "I'll lead him from here."

"…I'm sorry to cause a scene," Dalzen apologized as they began walking, feeling eyes on him not just from the cameras. "But I had no idea what I was supposed to do with that thing…"

"It's all right," Inoichi grinned, "You wouldn't, would you? Things have changed," he agreed, "Even from when I started on," He shrugged his hands in his pockets. "I was briefed by Lady Tsunade about your…arrival. I'm very glad you can work here for the day. But…I also hope you will be able to return soon…to the past," he added in a whisper.

"Believe me, I'd like that more than anything," Dalzen sighed.

"Know that our services are open to you—anything at all. And forgive me for sounding just like an Academy student, but I'm very honored you're here."

"Oh…"

The Intel ward, even in it's current state of glass and hi-tech gadgets provoked little enthusiasm in Dalzen's heart unlike it did the jounin beside him. "…Thank you," Dalzen mumbled.

"I've got a case for you," Inoichi picked up, "If you should like to visit him,"

Dalzen nodded in agreement. "I'll do my best."

"Oh, and…" The blonde man added reluctantly, "If you need to scan him, you…don't have to do it alone."

Dalzen looked at him curiously, "…Really?" Every scan he'd ever done he'd done unaided, simply because there were very few others who could do one. Perhaps in this frame of time, that was not the case. Inoichi changed the subject quickly after that, in a low voice, "Well! I heard you are staying with your former student!"

"…Yes. And his family," Dalzen nodded, smiling faintly. "Though I think Taylor is the only one who really understands my predicament at the moment," he added. "Seeing everything so changed is _not_ an easy thing." Dalzen's gaze soon fell, dwelling over the girl's troubles, and his own fears and insecurities in this frame of time. The youngest Hatake easily had power like Saru-Shin, and no doubt, she was even stronger now. In fact, all of the shinobi of this time seemed more powerful. If he had to fight his way home, would his talent really be enough…?

Inoichi nodded to the dark-haired man's comment, leading him to the destination, "True. We weren't really meant to be in situations like this."

Dalzen nodded, entering into a long grey hall, full of cell blocks.

Now _that_ was a familiar sight.

.

Taylor got out of her room around ten in the morning and saw Kakashi in his chair, reading silently.

"Mornin'," she greeted tiredly.

"Morning, sweetheart," Kakashi smiled.

Taylor rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around.

"Where's Dalzen?" she wondered.

"He's at Intel," her father replied.

"Oh..."

She walked towards the kitchen.

"Do we have enough stuff to make a bento box?"

Kakashi thought for a moment.

"Yeah, we do. Why?" he looked at his daughter.

"I was thinking about making a bento box for Dalzen," Taylor admitted.

"Isn't that a little weird?"

"I make you and Grandpa bento boxes, don't I?"

"Okay, you got me there," Kakashi chuckled.

Taylor grinned.

"So you're feeling better now?"

"Yes Daddy."

Taylor pulled out two bento boxes and started making her bento box and Dalzen's.

"That's good," Kakashi smiled.

.

Not many things surprised Morino Ibiki. But when security camera tape gets deleted, and there's a few hushed whispers of possibly a ghost at the ward, the tall man won't rest until he's aware of what's going on.

And normally, he doesn't tend to ask leading questions unless he already knows the answers, but that's what curiosity can do for you. There was never a Morino born without that trait. And as far as he knew, there were none who haunted halls.

Conveniently, Yamanaka had just left for the day, leaving behind a disorganized mop of chuunin without a brain. Aside from their clipboards full of boring statistics, they never knew many answers. So, Ibiki avoided them. All until Ibiki saw a rather tall one with black hair…leaving the interrogations unit.

This was Ibiki's ground.

So he shouted after the man indignantly and demanded some proof of clearance, racing up only to find a ghost turning his head. "…Oh, you mean this?" Dalzen said, withdrawing that dumb little card he was given earlier. "I'm sorry," he continued automatically, "Did I forget to swipe it on something?" Dalzen began looking around for some hidden panel on the wall, but he couldn't really find one.

"Kai—release," Ibiki muttered quickly, but this wasn't a genjutsu. (And yes, that is a Morino thing.)

"…I'm sorry," Dalzen said again. He wasn't sure how you could apologize for getting caught in a time jutsu, but he was going to try, "Don't arrest me—I'm just…out of place. Really out time, more like it," he reached into another pocket, pulling out a slip signed by the fifth hokage. "Here's…more clearance," he worded awkwardly. "Hopefully…I won't be here long."

Ibiki was silent.

Dalzen, in any frame of time, wasn't much for small talk, but he tried it anyway, "The upgrades look nice," he commented, even though so far, they were pretty annoying. "The security features are very…advanced." The past must have seemed like an open door to the youngest Hatake. Then again, she hadn't been able to spend much time in the village, from fear of messing things up. She might've gone in once or thrice, but no more than that.

Morino Ibiki finally made a move. He pulled out another new security feature. Hand cuffs. He simply held them up in front of his grandfather and Dalzen got the idea. "…Oh."

Ibiki led his grandfather to a small room around the corner and down a narrow hall. "Must be new," Dalzen mumbled to himself, admiring the sparse décor. There were two chairs in the interrogation room. Ibiki took one, Dalzen took the other, and Dalzen wondered aloud, "Is this going to take long?" He wasn't aware if the flippant comment would land him in even more hot water, but he didn't really mind at the moment. Worst come to worst, he could foresee the Hatake troupe blasting through these walls to bail him out, Taylor and Sakumo leading the charge.

"…It will take as long as I wish," Ibiki muttered, studying his grandfather. Dalzen did likewise, praying internally this was not, somehow, one of his progeny. Granted, screwing up the past was a lot more serious than screwing up the future…right?

Ibiki leaned forward—an imposing posture…much like Dalzen could manage. "Did anyone see you?" the scarred face asked.

Dalzen blinked in disbelief. "You believe me? Well—there was this nice Yamanaka fellow—"

"I knew it! That _idiot!"_ Ibiki cursed.

"You know…" Dalzen stopped.

Ibiki finished the sentence, "…We shouldn't be meeting like this?"

Dalzen's skin pricked. No interrogation he'd ever endured compared to this. Because this wasn't exactly an interrogation…Dalzen finally worked up the courage to ask, "Who are you?" It was a leading question, and the Morino could feel the answer.

"Your grandson…" the scarred face finally lifted from the shadows of a frown and smiled.

Dalzen blinked and blinked again. "Oh…my…" was all he could really say. He was speechless. The men shared the same dark eyes, the same height—Dalzen saw much of his own father in Ibiki's face and features. The uniforms and scars differed, but they shared the same blood.

Ibiki grinned. "I tried to learn all I could about you, but—" he stopped.

"…You know," Dalzen filled in with an odd smile blooming on his face, "I've never really been afraid of a conversation before until this one." He remembered Taylor accidentally meeting her own grandfather as an eight-year-old child. Dalzen finally understood all the pains she must have went through trying not to change the timeline. Conversation was a risky thing, but the young man seemed up for the challenge, "When did you first learn genjutsu?" he asked excitedly, "Did anyone teach you?"

"Well…" There couldn't be any harm in answering _that,_ now could there? "I…um…came from…"

"Yes, I know you came from county fourteen. You would have seen ninja on a regular basis having lived under martial law. And you could have sided with the land of wind, yet you didn't. You left that region to join Shodaime. I think that's brave."

Dalzen frowned. "Perhaps…" he admitted, "But it was the obvious choice. With a family of martyrs…" the elder Morino shook his head, "The land of wind was corrupt. Even now—er, then, I have to be careful where I go."

"…So, _how_ did you learn genjutsu?" Ibiki smiled.

Dalzen gave in. (Grandchildren can make you do that.) The elder Morino smiled. "Your great-grandparents fought for freedom—and freedom of choice. But their beliefs came with consequences. I was exposed to strife constantly at a young age. That made me distrustful, and it made me a realist. Before my parents were arrested, I met with my first genjutsu from Suna forces in the town square. I tried all the things civilians do to escape it, but that only made it worse. I didn't understand that it wasn't real. Then I remembered I focused quite hard—changing something called chakra, and from then on, I recognized and broke every genjutsu I saw."

"Amazing…!"

Dalzen shrugged.

A question was bugging the elder, and he wasn't sure if he could ask it. Dalzen cleared his throat uneasily. Surely it wouldn't _change_anything…"A-Are you…Teal's, or Hoshi's…?"

"…Teal." Ibiki answered. "I am Teal's son."

"…Right. And I swear that's all I'll ask. I just hope I don't run into either of them while I'm here in the future. I'm terrified if I mess something up, or if I…"

"…That won't be a problem," Ibiki replied calmly. "My aunt is on a mission out east, and Teal—"

Dalzen looked expectant when the younger man stopped talking so suddenly.

"My father…doesn't come here," he finished awkwardly.

"Oh, well, that's fine…" Dalzen shrugged.

"Seeing you…would be a little too much for him," Ibiki mused. "I wouldn't recommend it." He glanced up quickly and then made his peace on the wall, "I'm sorry for saying that. I probably shouldn't have."

Dalzen nodded, frowning upon the floor. "I'll admit, I was never there much for my family—especially with the war and all, so I am sorry—"

"It's not that."

"…Not that?"

Ibiki shook his head. "…Have you seen Sakumo-san?" he asked. "How's he taking your return?"

"Well…" Dalzen answered slowly, "We were able to meet in the past, briefly, when Taylor Hatake suffered the effects of this jutsu, but…" Dalzen's uneasiness grew. Ibiki's choice of words, '_How's he_ taking_ your return?_' bothered him. "Did…something happen? Please don't say 'what'," Dalzen added carefully.

But Ibiki couldn't answer directly. "Well—I am so very happy to have_ met_ you, ojiisan." Ibiki stood, a small smile returning to his face.

Dalzen smiled too, understanding the young man's choice of words to mean they had not been able to meet until now. That would have to be enough. "I am glad to meet you as well," he said. "And—I am sorry."

"Don't be. Just…live in the moment," he offered. "It's what I've finally learned to do."

"Sound advice," Dalzen smiled.

.

Taylor finished making the bento boxes and got dressed in her full uniform and she grabbed her wallet so she had her Intel card on her.

"I'm leaving," she told Kakashi, slipping into her indigo sandals and grabbing the bento boxes.

"Okay." Kakashi acknowledged, giving her a kiss on her cheek. "Have fun!"

"I will," Taylor smiled and left to go have lunch with Dalzen.

.

When she got to Intel, Taylor pulled out her card and showed it to the panel, unlike Dalzen who didn't even know what he was supposed to do. The panel acknowledged her and she walked away from it. Just as she walked away, she saw Yamanaka Inoichi and she waved at him

"Good afternoon Yamanaka-San," she greeted.

"Ah, good afternoon Miss Taylor," he greeted. "You caught me just before I left. What's up?"

"Oh, I was gonna get Dalzen-Sensei for lunch, if I may," she said.

"Uhm, I left him in the interrogations unit," Inoichi told her. "But he might've wandered off somewhere. Sorry."

"It's okay. I'll find him," she smiled.

Inoichi returned her smile.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Inoichi left and Taylor walked around for about thirty minutes before she finally managed to find Dalzen. Intel was pretty big for such a small girl.

When she found him, he was coming out of an interrogation room with another man that looked eerily similar to Dalzen. Taylor waved her hand to get his attention.

Ibiki caught her before his grandfather did.

"Hey, that girl is waving at you," he told his grandfather, pointing at Taylor.

The elder Morino looked up, surprised by the youngest Hatake's presence.

"Taylor?" he questioned in confusion.

She grinned.

"Hiya Dalzen," she greeted.

Ibiki looked at her.

"Oh!" he laughed a bit. "So this is the Taylor Hatake you mentioned earlier?"

"Y-Yeah...she's Sakumo's granddaughter," Dalzen explained.

"And daughter of Kakashi Hatake," Ibiki smiled. "I've heard about you, Taylor. You're a favorite amongst some of the Jounin here in the village."

"I-I am?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I've always heard conversations where they're talking about some things you've done...Most of it is, I'm taking a guess here, that you're an excellent artist."

"Y-Yeah," she nodded. "I do a lot of art... The Jounin thinks it's awesome how well I can draw. I've even received a few commissions from them...I was reluctant but I accepted."

She raised an eyebrow from curiosity. The man looked scarily like Dalzen, considering they were about the same height and had about the same hairstyle. Those grey eyes too!

"And now...who might you be?" she asked the youngest Morino.

"Oh! How rude of me to forget to introduce myself. I'm Morino Ibiki," he grinned, holding out his hand to shake hers. "I'm Dalzen's grandson."

Taylor looked at his hand and then grabbed it and they shook hands.

"Please to meet you," she smiled timidly.

"Pleasure's mine, Miss Hatake."

"Taylor, please," she said.

"Taylor..." Ibiki corrected himself.

Dalzen cleared his throat to get their attention.

"So Taylor...what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, I made a bento box for you for lunch and I thought that...you'd want to eat with a friend," Taylor explained.

"Oh." Dalzen looked at Ibiki.

"Go have lunch with her," his grandson grinned. "We've got it covered."

"Alright."

Ibiki looked at Taylor.

"You planning to stay after lunch, Miss Taylor?" he asked.

She looked at him.

"Yeah, sure. I don't think my dad would mind," she smiled.

"Great."

.

Taylor and Dalzen sat in the mess hall and ate from their bento boxes.

"So you're in Intelligence?" Dalzen asked

Taylor nodded.

"I don't come often though," she admitted. "I come when I want some kind of work or if Mr. Yamanaka has a good case for me to review."

"Oh."

He thought for a moment and realized something.

"I haven't seen Sakumo leave the house other than to go out into the wheat fields," he mentioned. "I thought he was a shinobi?"

"_Was_," Taylor emphasized. "He got demoted to a civilian."

Dalzen was taken aback.

"What? How!?"

"You know that the time jutsu is a forbidden one, right?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah?"

"Grandpa used it and it got him into trouble...h-he lied to Tsunade to get into the archives and he got the jutsu and Tsunade found out that he was lying...and she said that if he used it then she was going to demote him...to a civilian," Taylor explained.

"And he did use the jutsu," Dalzen remembered.

"Yes."

She looked down.

"Saving my clumsy ass cost him his status as a shinobi," she muttered.

"Taylor, you weren't clumsy," Dalzen sighed heavily. "It wasn't your fault it happened. I wasn't clumsy when this happened. Honestly, I had no clue what happened until I saw you. You had no clue you were in our time until you woke up. How are we supposed to know what happened? It's not like we were thrown through a wormhole, right?

"The jutsu that we had used a wormhole," Taylor mentioned. "But I guess there are versions without one."

"Yeah," Dalzen nodded. "So how is it our fault if we didn't know what was coming at us?"

Taylor sighed.

"You're right...but I still feel like it was my fault Grandpa lost his status," she mumbled.

She sighed and held her face in her hands.

"Sorry...I still feel bad about that...it's a me thing..."

"Really now? I hadn't noticed."

Taylor gave him a look.

"Sorry, sorry," Dalzen apologized.

"It's...not your fault," Taylor brought a california roll to her mouth with her chopsticks.

Dalzen did the same.

"You know, you didn't have to make me a bento box," he said, eating it.

"I like to make them," Taylor smiled. "Before I leave for a long mission, I always make a bento box for my dad and grandpa. It's just something I like to do and I thought you'd appreciate it."

Dalzen looked up at her and smiled a little.

"Well, thank you Taylor," he thanked her. "It's very delightful."

Taylor smiled back.

"I'm glad you like it," she responded happily.

They then continued eating until they finished. When they did, they walked back to the interrogation units.

.

Taylor walked back home with Dalzen a little later that day, after she took a glance at the weather station at Intel, and boy did she not like the forecast so they left as soon as they could. As they walked, they were quiet. Neither of them liked small talk so they didn't comment on how ominous the clouds above them were.

Just as the wind picked up, they saw Yuri and Daiichi and Taylor was not happy to see them for reasons other than she just didn't like them.

"Yuri! Daiichi!" Taylor called out to them.

Both Chuunin looked up as Taylor ran at them.

"Whatever are y'all doing?" she exclaimed. "We're under a friggin' tornado warning!"

"We are?" Daiichi looked startled.

"Yes! I thought you guys would've gotten word by now, this kind of news travels fast," Taylor said. "You two, go straight home right now! I know we don't usually get tornadoes since they're pretty rare, but it's still possible.

Yuri looked up at the sky.

"Please?" Taylor pleaded.

"How do you even know about it?" Yuri asked Taylor arrogantly.

"I was at Intel. They have a small weather station and I check it. That's why Dalzen and I left early, just to be safe. Non-essential personnel are leaving Intel right now," Taylor explained.

"Oh." Yuri looked down.

"Go home y'all," Taylor ordered again.

"Yes ma'am."

They both left immediately and Taylor sighed.

"Damn those two are idiots, going out when it's obviously gonna storm," Taylor cursed. "They're lucky we saw them," she told Dalzen, looking up at him. "If not, they'd be caught in the wind storm and they're so light that the wind would pick them up without a problem."

He nodded.

"Let's hurry," she grabbed his hand and dragged him behind her as she ran at top speed.

Dalzen was slightly started by Taylor when she grabbed his hand and started dragging him behind her. It didn't take long for Taylor to reach her full speed and didn't take Dalzen very long to match her speed.

In a matter of a few minutes, they were outside the village and heading to the house. Suddenly, hail began falling from the sky alongside rain.

"Not good!" Taylor said. "Hail! Be careful!"

"You be careful," Dalzen exclaimed. "You're the one dragging _me_ behind you at top speed!"

"You need to be careful too," Taylor replied. "If you slip and fall, you're gonna take me with you and we'll both be hurt."

"Okay, you're right," Dalzen nodded.

"Damn right I am," Taylor grumbled.

Within five minutes of being battered by marble-sized hail, they were home with a few bruises from all of that hail. Both came through the front door, panting and soaking wet.

"H-Holy crap," Taylor trembled, leaning against the door.

Dalzen was just staring down at his clothes and how wet they were. Sakumo caught sight of them and said nothing as he left to get some towels to dry them off.

"We should've left earlier," he told her.

"Or Daiichi and Yuri should've kept their asses inside," Taylor grumbled. "We wasted five minutes trying to get them inside because I don't want to see them dead."

Sakumo came back with the towels.

"Dry off," the elder ordered them both. "Please."

They both nodded and each took a towel and dried off.

"Good thing you have extra clothes, Dalzen," Taylor grinned. "Otherwise you'd be screwed."

"I could go around the house without a shirt...if I really needed to," he said. "to let my shirt dry."

"What would you do for your pants?"

"Uhm, honestly I wouldn't know," Dalzen shrugged.

"Yeah..." Taylor giggled. "Let's just stop there."

"Who said I was going to go on with that?" Dalzen looked at the silver-haired girl.

"Haha true," Taylor smiled back, taking her hair out of the holder and wrapping the towel around her hair and she wrung it out. "Whew! I am completely soaked. Guess I'll change into some dry clothes."

"Yeah, same," Dalzen agreed.

Taylor looked up at the elder Morino and smiled a bit. And after they were dry enough, they went and got into dry clothes and remarked at how many bruises they had on their arms from the marble-sized hail.

.

.


	5. The Ghosts of Time

_Into The Future_

.

Chapter Five  
**_The Ghosts of _****_Time_**

.

.

About two weeks passed with no luck in finding the jutsu, yet they still had a few more leaders to respond.

Taylor was irritated. They did everything they could possibly do to find the jutsu, which is just the sending letters to the other leaders, but with no such luck. Yeah, they still have a few more leaders to wait on, but she figured they would've responded by now.

She picked a strawberry from her little garden and ate it, then looking out at the field. _I hope Dalzen is okay, _she thought.

Of course he's okay! Who wouldn't be okay when they're out of time? Dalzen wondered how could Taylor have dealt with being out of time when she was in his time. Well, she didn't really, but she was a more emotional person than he was.

Dalzen did his best to act like everything was okay. That it was his time. But...it's hard to forget you're in the future when you're living with your former student and his family, and the place you worked at has about 50 years worth of upgrades (including a small science department, whoever's idea that was is a pretty bad one according to Dalzen) and also...you're a grandfather.

Pretty hard to forget you're in the future for those reasons, wouldn't it?

Sakumo asked Dalzen to get Taylor inside so he did, but when he went outside, he saw a ghost in the fields and it wasn't Taylor or Kakashi. From the way he saw the ghost...it almost looked like the elder Hatake in his time... Could that have been?

Taylor saw the ghost too.

"Coushander...?" she whispered.

Dalzen looked at the girl, who was staring at the fields. Then, she could sensed Dalzen and she turned her head.

"You saw him too?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah...I think so."

Taylor stood up and took her gloves off, "I swear, I keep seeing Coushander. I think I've even seen Kano a few times."

"Really?" Dalzen watched as she headed into the shed to put up her gloves.

Taylor nodded, coming back out and picked up the bowl of strawberries.

"You need me for something?" she asked.

"...Yeah," Dalzen nodded. "Sakumo wants you inside now...he's done cooking supper."

"Oh," Taylor smiled. "Thanks."

She went up the stairs and brushed past Dalzen, who was still watching the ghost in the fields. When Taylor went inside, Dalzen tried to catch Coushander's attention.

"Coushander!" he exclaimed.

The ghost kept working, not having heard his voice.

"Dalzen, aren't you coming?" Taylor asked, stepping back outside.

He looked at her.

"Yeah...sorry..." he followed her back inside.

.

Later that night, Taylor saw the ghost again, but this time heading into her father's room. She was drying her ear when she saw him.

"Coushander?"

He didn't hear her. Taylor put the towel down and followed him into Kakashi's room.

"Coushander," she said again. "Can you hear me? Coushander?"

Still, he did not respond. But, he did look at her and he looked at her in absolute surprise. He muttered something, but Taylor didn't hear it.

"Huh?" she looked at him. "Can you hear me?"

Coushander raised an eyebrow at her, then tried talking again.

"Taylor?" She made no response. "Huh? ...Can you hear me?"

No...she can't.

"I can't read lips," she groaned.

Suddenly, Coushander looked down and smiled a bit.

"What?" Taylor asked.

Coushander didn't hear her but her face said the same thing.

"Jiraiya," he pointed at the little kid, trying to grab her pants' leg.

"Huh?" Taylor looked down to her side. Attempting to grab her pants leg was a toddler with messy, pure white hair and red marks on either cheek, just under his eye. He had warm grey eyes, like Coushander did. She wondered who it was.

"Daddy?" The toddler mistook Taylor for Coushander, and he didn't see the man himself in front of her.

The elder looked at the little boy.

"Jiraiya, that's not me. I'm right here," he said. Taylor had a bad feeling as to who it was.

"J-Jiraiya..." she tensed up. "Oh my goddess...what is going on?"

Coushander brought Jiraiya to his side and Taylor shuddered.

"I need to find Grandpa..." she turned around and dashed out, and went out into the backyard, and Coushander and Jiraiya watched.

"T-Taylor!" Coushander watched her, then he looked down at his son.

"Grandpa!" Taylor ran out into the wheat. "Grandpa, I saw Coushander and Jiraiya! Something's wrong!"

Sakumo turned around, surprised.

"What?!"

"In Daddy's room...Coushander and Jiraiya..." she panted. "I don't know what to do...They can't hear me, though..."

"You said...Jiraiya and my dad?

"When Jiraiya was a toddler..." Taylor interjected.

"What?"

Taylor groaned and grabbed her grandfather's hand and dragged him into the house.

"T-Taylor! What are you —"

"I'm gonna show you!" she exclaimed, heading into her father's room.

They went inside, only to not see Coushander and Jiraiya.

"Taylor?" Sakumo looked at his granddaughter questioningly.

"But...they were right there in front of his bed!" she exclaimed.

"Taylor, are you okay?' Sakumo asked. "Because perhaps you were imagining it."

"I wasn't imagining it! How can I imagine Jiraiya as a toddler? I've only known him as an adult!" Taylor exclaimed. "I don't know what he looked like back then!"

"You're an artist," Sakumo pointed out.

"That's beside the point, Grandpa!"

"Taylor, calm down. You were hallucinating. I'm not surprised, you did hit your head the other day."

"Grandpa, I know that I wasn't hallucinating!" she exclaimed. "Please believe me...you know I would never lie to you..."

"I didn't see them..." Sakumo started cautiously. "I'm sorry —"

Angrily, Taylor threw her arms up in the air.

"Why did I even bother?" she asked, storming out of the room.

"Tayl —" Too late, Sakumo. She's gone. "Damn."

After a few minutes of thinking, the elder Hatake walked out and finished what he was doing.

.

The next morning, Dalzen went with Taylor to Intel. She was humming some random tune and Dalzen was trying to ignore it as best as he could.

"You are so much like your great-granduncle. You and your crazy knack for humming or singing..." He shook his head. "Drives me bonkers."

Taylor grinned.

"You were already bonkers weren't you?"

"That is completely beside the point."

They had gotten to the village when all of a sudden, they saw the village was crowded with ghosts walking around. Dalzen even saw an old friend dash by.

"Whoa!" he jumped back, surprised. "Takato?"

"Huh?" Taylor looked at the light-brown haired man.

Dalzen was quite shocked to see his old friend. The man stopped and turned his head and saw Dalzen. He looked at him, then at Taylor and questioned who she was. He spoke, but neither one of them heard him.

"What is going on?" Dalzen asked Taylor.

"I don't know," Taylor said. "Whatever it is, it ain't good."

"No it isn't," Dalzen agreed.

"Although...I might be able to do some research on this...let's hurry."

"Right," Dalzen followed her.

.

Sakumo walked out of his room, only to bump right into Coushander. Well, they didn't really feel it but they noticed the other was there. Both men looked at each other.

"Dad?" Sakumo wondered.

"Sakumotsu?" Coushander looked at his son.

Sakumo gasped, "Taylor wasn't hallucinating last night...she was dead serious."

"Sakumo, can you hear me?" Coushander asked.

Sakumo sighed.

"But I can't hear him," he said. "I know he's talking but I can't hear him..."

"Damn...what is going on?" Coushander wondered.

Sakumo was thinking the same thing.

"Something is not right..." they both said out loud.

.

Dalzen approached Taylor, bringing her a cup of tea.

"Why're making me get you tea?" he grumbled.

"I might be onto something..." she said. "I can't get up unless I seriously have to."

He stared at the silver-haired girl and shook his head, handing her the drink. "What do you have?"

"Bad news, all in all," she said, taking a gulp out of her tea. She continued right after she wiped her mouth with her arm. "From what I've gathered...your time is trying to combine with my time..."

Dalzen raised an eyebrow.

"Combining? W-What does that mean?" he wondered.

"Means exactly what it sounds like," Taylor looked at him, her blue eyes were dark with dread. "Dalzen, it's why we saw Takato and why I saw Coushander and Jiraiya."

"You don't even know who Takato is," Dalzen grumbled. "How bad is it?"

"Uhmm..." Taylor looked down at her notes. "When we can hear them it'll be pretty bad but for right now...we're on the safe side...I think."

"You think?" Dalzen looked at her seriously. "Are you certain or uncertain?"

"Uncertain," Taylor admitted. "I'm pretty uncertain as to how bad it is. Nothing bad has actually happened but that prolly doesn't mean anything. Now when my dad comes home covered in bruises with a twisted ankle, then we have to worry."

She grinned at Dalzen's expression of, "Really?!"

"Haha, I am kidding," she giggled. "Naw, how we can tell shit is getting real is when we can physically hear and speak to them. That, I'm serious about."

"What happens when that happens?"

Taylor didn't want to answer that question.

"What?" Dalzen wondered. "You look pretty pale. C'mon. What is it?"

"Catastrophe," she answered hesitantly, looking at him. "Once the past and the present merge...we can kiss our asses goodbye because it would cause such an imbalance that..." she looked down and worded the rest of the sentence carefully. "Something catastrophic will happen...whatever it is...it's up to the gods."

Dalzen never looked so shocked and there was even a hint of fear in his grey eyes. He had no words to say, he couldn't find them.

"Yeah," Taylor agreed with his expression.

"W-What can we do?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, we can get you back to your time and patch up whatever holes in the fabric of space and time have been created from these time jutsus," Taylor explained. "Unfortunately, we still do not have that jutsu to get you back. We're still waiting to hear from Iwa and a few other villages."

She paused, "...if there's even a remote chance that the other kage even have a time jutsu. I'm starting to have my doubts."

Dalzen looked down. He himself was starting to doubt there being another scroll with the jutsu, or a similar one. They sat in silence, not doing anything. Taylor didn't go back to doing research. Instead, she sat and sulked in the chair. Dalzen stood over her, not knowing what to do.

It wasn't long before Ibiki found his way to them.

"Good afternoon, Ojiisan," he greeted, looking at Taylor. "Afternoon, Miss Taylor."

"Afternoon..." they both muttered incomprehensibly.

Ibiki raised an eyebrow.

"You two look pretty melancholy," he noted. "What's up?"

"It's complicated," Taylor said.

"Am I allowed to know?"

"I don't see why not," Dalzen looked at Taylor.

"Yeah...alright..." Taylor sighed heavily and explained the situation with the ghosts to the youngest Morino. He listened intently, while his grandfather was holding his head in irritation.

By the time she was finished speaking, Dalzen could feel how nervous he was and Ibiki was pretty worried himself.

He blinked in disbelief, "So this is just the beginning of the apocalypse?"

"Yes," Taylor confirmed.

"Damn..." he muttered with disbelief.

"You know, I love doomsday stories...but as stories, not real life. This...is pretty scary. And you know something is scary when..." She pointed at Dalzen. "When Dalzen himself is pretty scared, or what passes as scared for him."

"Yeah really," he agreed.

Dalzen brushed his bangs back with his hand and allowed them to fall back into place. Then, he sighed heavily. Taylor clutched her notebook on her lap, looking pretty worried.

"I'm gonna tell Tsunade about this," she said, standing up.

"I'll come with," Dalzen offered.

"I have to stay here. Sorry..." Ibiki said.

"That's fine..." Taylor walked away and Dalzen went with her as she headed out of Intel to go to the Hokage.

And both of them were absolutely silent on the walk but the air between them was filled with dread.

.

.


	6. Life As We Knew It

_Into The Future_

.

.

Chapter Six  
_**Life As We Knew It**_

.

As soon as Taylor got to the Hokage's office (Dalzen close behind her), she told Tsunade. Unfortunately, at first she was going too fast for the Hokage to understand her so the Hokage had to calm her down.

"Taylor," she stood up and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Slow down. I can't understand you. Whatever is the matter?"

"_Gomen_," Taylor apologized. "But..." she took in a deep breath. "Dalzen and I had started seeing...ghosts...and I thought I'd check it out at Intel..." She looked at the Hokage with serious blue eyes. "It's not good. The past — his past, I mean — is trying to merge with our time. Right now...they're see-through and we can't physically speak or hear or even feel them. What happens if and when our timelines merge? Chaos. Pandemonium." Taylor's blue eyes darkened with dread, "Everything that's unimaginable...well...could happen...Anything you can name or can't! Basically...life as we knew it would cease to be...life as we knew it would be destroyed. It's basically a doomsday story I'd read come to life.

She looked down, "If you need to, look through my notebook. I did my research...five...excruciatingly long hours..."

"And she made me go get her tea..." Dalzen hung his head. "I can't even believe you did that, Taylor..."

"Shaddup. You should expect the unexpected," the girl was trying to make a joke, but she did not succeed really.

Dalzen shook his head.

"Sometimes I wonder about you..."

"What...?" the hokage stared at the girl.

"Yeah," Taylor knew the 'what' wasn't a 'what did you say?' what, it was a 'are you serious?' what. "And we still haven't found the jutsu to send him back and I have to work on a jutsu to patch up the holes in the fabric of space and time after we get him back. I hope I can do it soon too...I don't know how much time we have left before..." she swallowed hard. "...The apocalypse..."

Tsunade, like everyone Taylor's told so far, had no idea what to say. All she did was nod her head, "Thank you, Taylor...uhm...I don't know what to say..."

"It's okay," Taylor assured. "I just wanted you to know about it. I mean...there isn't much we can do at the moment but I thought it would be a good idea to tell you..."

'Thank you..." Tsunade smiled.

"We're gonna go now. Sorry to disturb you for crazy news."

"I'm used to it by now."

Offering an amused smile, Taylor left. Dalzen followed her out silently and walked just as briskly as she was, as Taylor was walking with much concern and worry.

"You're telling Kakashi and Sakumo, right?" he asked.

"Of course I am," she answered. "They must know about this."

She looked up, "But wait...Dad is still on a mission," she realized.

"He should be home tonight," Dalzen reminded. "He promised you that he'd be back tonight."

"When he says 'tonight', usually he means at two o'clock in the morning," Taylor grumbled.

"Hm."

Taylor sighed and went through the front gate, then going up the stairs of the front porch. Dalzen followed her silently into her house and the both took off their sandals.

"_Tadaima_..." Taylor groaned, going into the kitchen where she found Kakashi and Sakumo. "Huh? Wow Dad...you're early for once..."

Kakashi nodded.

"Gai said he could finish up the mission by himself so I just left him," he grinned. "And I promised the most important woman in my life I'd be back home," he winked at his daughter.

"Hm...I see..." Taylor sat down beside Kakashi and looked at Sakumo.

"Grandpa I— "

Before she could tell him what she had planned on telling him, he spoke.

"Taylor...I'm sorry for not believing you last night," he apologized. "I saw him earlier...and we were surprised..."

"I was about to say something about that," Taylor admitted.

"Huh?" Sakumo looked at her.

That's when she went into detail, showing them the notes and giving the explanations behind them. Sakumo and Kakashi listened, and at this point Dalzen couldn't bear to hear it anymore so he covered his ears and pretended Taylor was just singing. Right now, he'd rather listen to her sing than her repeat her findings for the third time.

Taylor didn't want to have to repeat them, but she had to so they would know. When she finished, Sakumo sighed.

"That explains a lot," he said. "Why I saw Dad, why you saw him and Jiraiya — "

"And why we saw one of my friends," Dalzen added.

"And Nidai. I thought I saw him earlier," Taylor added. "In Tsunade's office."

"Really?" Dalzen looked at her.

"Yeah," Taylor nodded. "Like...just for a moment. It wasn't for very long that I got to see him.

"Geez..." Dalzen sighed heavily.

"I don't know what to say," Sakumo muttered after a few moments of silence.

"Same..." Kakashi looked down.

Another moment of silence passed before Kakashi's warm grey eyes peered up. It wasn't often that he made an expression that his daughter would pull, but he did manage it. It was an expression of both concern and dread.

"How much time..." He swallowed hard. "Do we have?"

The father dreaded his daughter's answer. Taylor, with her head down, shrugged.

"Honestly, could be 24 hours or a week..." she answered. "Or even months."

She glanced up a bit at Sakumo.

"Grandpa, did you hear Coushander at all?" she asked.

The elder Hatake shook his head.

"No, I didn't. He didn't hear me either," he answered.

"Good. That must mean we still have time to figure out how to get Dalzen-Sensei back to his time," Taylor breathed in a sigh of relief. "Thank the goddess..."

Sakumo sighed.

"So does this mean we're gonna have even more screwy weather?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Taylor sighed, just as it started thundering. She pointed behind her at the window. "My point exactly."

They all sighed.

"I'm sorry Sensei, that this has happened," Sakumo apologized to Dalzen.

"It's not your fault," Dalzen assured.

They all fell silent again and no one spoke a word when Sakumo got up to start cooking. There was just nothing to say.

.

Dalzen woke up late in the night when Taylor went outside into the backyard. He sat up, wondering what woke him up. Little did he know, it was Taylor going outside. Shrugging, he laid back down and tried to go back to sleep.

Taylor was frustrated, so she went outside to work on a tree outside the fenced land. And by work the tree, I mean punch the tree.

She took off her gloves and her shirt, revealing an indigo tank top underneath. She sat the shirt and her gloves on the fence and tied her hair back. Then, she faced the tree and started punching the tree with her bare knuckles. She was pretty frustrated with what she had found the day before. How was she going to get Dalzen back and patch up the holes that the damned time jutsus created? What if they couldn't do it in time and the whole world ended?

She threw an extra powerful punch into the tree, which caused a wound on her knuckles that bled. She felt it, grabbed her wrist and then fell to her knees, watching as the blood began pouring out. Angrily, she banged her head on the tree trunk and she growled angrily.

"Damn it!" she yelled.

Then, she sat there, head resting against the trunk, clutching her hand, and beginning to cry.

"Damn it...what do I do?"

She cried, "Saru...what do I do? I want to help Dalzen..." She banged her good fist into the tree and made it start bleeding. "But we haven't been able to find the damn scroll!"

Again, she banged her head on the tree and cried in frustration.

"Damn it...I hate the feeling of helplessness..."

She sat there for about thirty minutes after that, crying uncontrollably. Suddenly, after those minutes had passed, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Not a real hand...like...someone's energy that felt like a hand. She looked up and saw it was Coushander. He looked concerned as he crouched down beside her.

"Whatever is the matter, my dearest granddaughter?" he asked, gently stroking her back. "Your face is red and wet with tears! Oh...Tell me, whatever is the matter my dearest?"

"Coushander," she whimpered.

"Don't cry," he pleaded. "Whatever is the matter?"

"I can't hear you..." she grumbled, knowing he was talking.

The elder remembered that and then pulled out a notebook from his robe, smiling gently at the girl.

"What?" she looked.

He pulled the pen from the spiral binding and flipped it open and started writing. Then, when he was done writing, he flipped it around to show her.

"Are you okay?" it read.

"No..." she shook her head.

Coushander turned it back around and flipped to a new page and wrote. Then he turned it around and showed her.

"Want to tell me?" it read.

Taylor shrugged.

"I guess..."

He stood up and gestured for her to follow him.

"Huh?"

He wrote in the notebook and showed her it, "Let's go inside."

"Okay..." She stood up and gathered her shirt and gloves and followed him back to the house. He led her to the bathroom and wrote, "Wrap up your hands first. I don't want those wounds to possibly get infected."

"Yes sir..." She washed out her wounds and wrapped it up in bandages. Then, they went into her room.

"Tell me what's up," Coushander wrote.

Taylor tilted her head and the eldest Hatake pointed at a notebook on her desk. She looked at the notebook.

"Oh..." She turned on her lamp and started writing, explaining everything that's happened in the past six weeks to him and included her findings as to why they can see each other at the end. She told him about Dalzen being there, that Tsunade had burned the original and the copy Sakumo had made, their struggle trying to find the scroll that had the jutsu, about Dalzen's encounter with his grandson and then her findings when she researched the ghosts they were seeing.

"What?" Coushander muttered. "Dalzen is there...with you and Sakumo? Oh wait..."

He wrote it down and showed her. The younger Hatake nodded her head.

"Yes..." she sighed and then wrote, "Dalzen is asleep on the couch...last time I checked..."

He wrote on a new page, "And the world is coming to an end?"

"Yes," Taylor nodded hesitantly.

"By our times merging..." the elder didn't exactly know what that meant, but he knew it was bad. "Oh dear."

Taylor groaned and wrote, "I'm scared Coushander...I don't know what else to do...we're trying to obtain the jutsu to get him back to your time but to no avail."

"I see..." the elder nodded and wrote, "I'm sorry, my dearest Taylor...but I am no help at all in these kinds of situations." And he gave her a wry smile.

Taylor read it and looked upset at him and returned that smile and she chuckled.

"I know," she whispered in a broken voice. "I know, Coushander..."

The elder sighed and stood up.

"Go to bed," he wrote in his notebook. "Please?"

She looked at her hands and nodded.

"Okay," she said.

He put his hand on her head and he actually could feel her soft hair. Taylor felt his actual hand on her head and they looked at each other.

"What...?" they both questioned.

To Taylor, Coushander became less see-through and more opaque, and vice versa with her to him.

"Oh no..." Taylor grabbed his hand. "Not good!"

They both watched as the pale ghosts of each other became darker and more opaque.

"Coushander..." she whispered.

"I can hear you now..." he realized.

"Not good!" Taylor jumped up. "I've got to wake them up."

"Don't be so hasty!" he hissed. "Jiraiya is asleep and in your grandfather's room!"

"I'm not gonna wake him up," Taylor hissed back. "I will throw a pillow at my grandfather. Go out into the living room."

"And wake up Dalzen?"

"He's probably already awake," Taylor said, dashing out to get Sakumo and Kakashi. "I might've accidentally woken him up going outside and coming back in with you. Do as I say!"

Coushander sighed heavily and went out into the living room as Taylor woke her dad and grandfather.

She went to Kakashi's room first.

"Daddy! Wake up!" she shouted.

"GAH!" Kakashi jolted awake and sat up quickly. Then, he looked at his daughter, surprised. "What the heck, Taylor?!"

"Living room," she dashed out to get Sakumo.

Dalzen woke up to Taylor running around and shouting. The Morino sat up, rubbing his head tiredly.

"Man, what is going on?" he yawned, looking up at Coushander. "Huh? C-Coushander?"

"Dalzen..." Coushander greeted. "Nice to see ya."

"Huh?!" Dalzen's eyes widened. "What? Oh no...that's not good..."

Taylor came bounding into the living room with Kakashi and Sakumo.

"It's coming faster than we thought," she panted. "Our predicament has gotten a lot worse."

Sakumo, Kakashi, Dalzen and Coushander all looked at each other.

"You don't say..."

.

Everyone stared at each other, confused.

"What do we do?" Dalzen asked.

"Pray to God that we find the damn jutsu," Taylor answered.

"Don't think God is on our side at this point," Coushander admitted.

"Let's pretend he is," Taylor grumbled.

A few moments of silence passed.

"Taylor, go to bed," Kakashi ordered. "I'm gonna work on that jutsu to patch up the holes in the universe."

"Dad?" she looked at him.

"Coushander, you can sleep in my bed," Kakashi said. "I'm gonna be outside."

He left without Coushander's response.

"You should go to bed," Coushander told Taylor. "You've been awake since two."

"Alright..."

"You have?" Sakumo looked at his granddaughter, then looked down at her hands, wrapped up in bandages. "What were you doing up at two in the morning?"

"She was punching a tree," Coushander answered for her, knowing full well she wasn't gonna tell Sakumo willingly.

"Coushander!" she glared at him.

She coughed.

"Er...I mean...hey look at the time! I should be going to bed now," she corrected herself. "Night night, I love you all," she threw her arms around Coushander and then she disappeared into her room.

Sakumo sighed.

"Let's all go to bed," he suggested. "We'll figure things out in the morning..."

He turned around to go to his room, but he didn't go down the hall. He stayed in place.

"As long as we have a tomorrow," he added darkly, then going into his room.

.

Taylor tossed and turned in her bed. Her dreams were filled with nightmares of what could possibly happen. Occasionally, she'd wake up and nearly scream. Then, she'd lay back down and go back to sleep. Despite how long she actually slept, she was still tired.

She came out of her room around ten in the morning and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Anything?" she asked Kakashi, who was pretty much asleep with his head down on the table.

"He's sleeping," Sakumo hushed.

"Oh..."

She looked around.

"Where's Coushander?"

"Phased back into a ghost that we can't hear," Sakumo answered. "He's dealing with Jiraiya right now. Sorry."

"Oh...okay..." she looked at her father.

She noticed he didn't have a blanket to keep him comfy so she went back to her room, grabbed a blanket and went into the kitchen and sat down beside her father. Carefully, she draped the blanket over his shoulders and then she tried to get under his arm so she was close to him and under the blanket and then she laid against him. Kakashi felt her trying to get under his arm, so he put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.

"Hm..." he smiled softly and laid his head against Taylor and he held her in a comforting snuggle.

Sakumo smiled a bit.

"Aww..." he smiled. "So cute."

Dalzen looked and he noticed he was smiling too. Then again, who couldn't smile at a father holding his daughter, who was most likely scared right now.

"Aww..."

Taylor sighed softly and laid her head down on his head.

"I don't want to die," she whispered.

Unconsciously, Kakashi started stroking her long, silver hair and he whispered back, "I will never let you die, Taylor. I promise."

.

.


	7. We Are Going to Fix This

_Into The Future_

.

Chapter Seven  
_**We Are Going To Fix This**_

.

.

Another two days passed. Nothing happened, other than torrential rainstorms with occasional hail. Dalzen and Taylor went to Intel both days, Taylor off in the Science Wing and Dalzen in Interrogation. Taylor, in a very depressed way, played with the Newton balls they had in there, not really doing anything else. She was sorta stuck in some sort of daze where she just was too upset to do much. Dalzen occasionally would go check up on her, make sure she's okay. For awhile, after she finally told Kakashi and Sakumo and Dalzen, her feelings, she was a bit cheerier. Now lately, ever since the terrible news...she's been extremely depressed again. Dalzen just figures it would be a nice thing to do, check up on the youngest Hatake. He even offered to keep her company but she, in her own strange way, told him to back off. She didn't exactly tell him, but the look she'd give him was a sign of "back off, Dalzen" and the elder Morino sure as heck was not gonna take any chances, so he'd go back to interrogation.

He himself was pretty upset. Every time he passed Takato, he'd feel a pang of anger. Not at himself, not at Takato. At whoever did this to him. Dalzen didn't usually feel random emotions like anger, but he felt a bit of it when he'd walk by a fellow comrade and he had no idea how to react to the anger, so he just kept it inside and didn't say anything.

It rained when they were halfway home again, and Taylor forgot her umbrella.

"Dalzen?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I left my umbrella at Intel."

Dalzen shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he grumbled. "I'll be fine..."

Taylor looked down.

"Alright..."

After a few moments, her stomach began hurting and she hugged her sides. The Morino noticed this and he looked at the Hatake.

"You okay? You look pretty pale..."

"I-I'm fine..." She clutched her vest and tried to keep her groan quiet. "Just...a little sick to my stomach..."

Dalzen looked up at the sky. The rain was coming down really hard...and they weren't about to go back to Intel just to get her umbrella... He sighed heavily and took off his vest.

"Let's not get you even more sick," he suggested. "Just use this to keep you relatively dry."

"Are you sure?" Taylor asked him reluctantly.

"Yeah," Dalzen smiled assuringly at the girl. "I'll be fine. I don't get sick like you do."

"A-Alright..." She gingerly took the vest out of his hands and held it over her head. "T-Thank you, Dalzen."

"It's nothing, Taylor-San."

When they got home, Taylor went into the kitchen and she got a can of ginger ale to settle her stomach. Kakashi saw her as he came in from the backyard and he gave her a concerned look.

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." Taylor walked over to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "I'm just feeling a little under the weather, that's all."

"Oh..." he smiled. "Go rest then. You need it."

She smiled and hugged him.

"I'm way ahead of you, Daddy. Love you."

He gave her a kiss and a hug back and let her go into her room to rest. He watched her and sighed heavily.

"She hasn't been sick since last September," he remarked quietly to himself. "Minus the occasional nausea from cramping because that doesn't count."

Dalzen stood over the sink and wrung his vest out. he looked at Kakashi and nodded, acknowledging the father's ramblings, then he looked down and saw ghost Jiraiya. Well, the toddler. He has no idea how Jiraiya looks when he's much older.

"I hope we can fix the timelines," he murmured.

Jiraiya stared up at the tall man curiously.

"You'll learn about me soon, I hope...if we survive..." the tall man finished wringing out his vest and he walked away to change into dry clothes and dry out the outfit he was wearing earlier. Then, he sat on the couch and tried to sort himself out.

.

Taylor, in her white robe and with her hair down, laid in her bed, snuggling her Nyanko-Sensei doll. For the most part she was still, except for the occasional movement to get comfortable again. She woke up a few times in her nap, and got a sip of ginger ale to settle her upset tummy.

At one point, she woke up to Dalzen coming in to give her a new can of ginger ale, as Kakashi told him to do.

"She usually drinks two if her stomach is hurting," Kakashi explained. "And I promised Dad I'd start cooking about now...And he's working on something out in the shack..."

Dalzen shrugged and did as Kakashi said. He walked into Taylor's room, knowing full well she was asleep and he opened the can for her. Little did he know, those damned soda cans made a loud noise when opened. Startled by the sound, he thought, _Crap! Please don't wake up, Taylor...please don't wake up!_

Despite his silent pleadings, the youngest hatake opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Dalzen?"

"Go back to sleep," he ordered her quickly.

"What are you doing...?" she groaned.

"I was doing what your father told me to do," he answered quietly. "I brought you more soda..."

"Oh...thanks..."

"No problem," he turned around. "Go back to sleep..."

"Okay..." she closed her eyes and Dalzen left without another word.

After Taylor drank more soda, she dozed off and had random dreams (which were really memories) play in her subconscious. It was those two months. Not everything that happened...just what her mind felt like playing for her. She dreamt of those two months she was in their time.

That moment when she met Dalzen, Coushander, and Kano. She'd had a bad injury, and she passed out. That was all she could remember before she blacked out. Then, she woke up in a room where Dalzen and Kano were in, keeping watch of her, and she panicked and ran out. When she ran from her room, she dashed into the living room, only to be greeted by the elder Hatake. He grabbed both of her wrists and held her in place, glaring at her.

"Whatever are you doing, child?" he had asked the twelve-year-old girl.

Fear filled her body as the man grew impatient. "...Well?" the man impatiently stared her down.

That's when she started squirming. "AHH! Let me go! Let me go!"

It took Kano and Dalzen to convince him to let her go and when he did, she fell to her knees and she held her hands up in defense.

"Don't hurt me!" she had cried out.

After that, the three of them had to calm her down and then Dalzen and Kano tried to convince Coushander to keep her until she had a way home, and he gave into it. And Coushander was glad that they pressured him into keeping her. She was quiet, sweet, cheery and never asked for much.

Taylor dreamt of the battle and how the elder Hatake had saved her. The guy who started the whole mess held her captive, leaving Kakashi, Sakumo and Dalzen completely helpless. Well, for the most part Dalzen was already helpless; his opponents were mostly unaffected by _genjutsu_. They were all helpless, up until Coushander snuck in behind the captor.

"Let the girl go," he commanded, pointing the black katana at the captor.

He didn't let Taylor go until Coushander threatened to hurt him, in which case the captor released the girl into the elder's arms, forbidding her from going to her father. Then, the elder fought the guy who hurt his great-granddaughter and then Sakumo and Kakashi took over. Then, Taylor joining in and she helped defeat him with, oh surprise, genjutsu.

Then, she passed out and woke up in the hospital. After she was given the OK to go home, they all went to Coushander's house and Taylor said her goodbyes. It was pretty emotional for Taylor to say goodbye to Coushander and Dalzen, and when she got home Saru too, but she had to go back to her time with her father and grandfather. The timelines would've gotten completely out of whack and they couldn't let that happen. Taylor and Coushander were both crying but Dalzen wasn't since he wasn't an emotional person to begin with. After the goodbyes, she went home and saw Saru. They danced (for whatever reason crossed Saru's crazy mind), despite neither one of them knowing how to dance really and then they had to say goodbye.

By the time she got to that point in her dream, she had woken up. Taylor opened her eyes and groaned softly, then looking at her alarm. It was five-thirty in the evening, and she could smell the ramen being made in the kitchen. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Mh...smells so good," she murmured, stretching her arms behind her head. "Oh, I feel so much better..." she drank her soda and then stood up and slipped her socks on and walked over to her door. Before she could open it, there was a scratch at her window and she had to look at it. Standing at her window was a messenger bird with a scroll for her.

"Huh?" she turned around and walked back to her bed to open the window. She knelt on the mattress and opened the window, then reaching her small hand out to grab the scroll.

"Thank you," she smiled.

The bird nodded and flew off, leaving Taylor to walk out of her room and read the scroll.

"Hm..." she read it and stopped in the living room and gasped.

"Dad!" she walked into the kitchen. "Iwa has it!"

Kakashi looked at his daughter.

"Huh?

"I just got a letter from the Tsuchikage and he has the scroll with the time jutsu on it," she grinned.

"Really?" Kakashi walked over to her. "Let me see?"

"Sure," she gave him the scroll. "There."

He took the letter and read it.

"Finally," he breathed a sigh of relief.

"After supper, I will go to Tsunade and make it a mission to go to Iwa and use the jutsu," she said. "I'm assembling a team of five; you, Grandpa, Dalzen, Ibiki and me."

Kakashi glanced at her.

"Dad is a civilian, Taylor. He can't come," he pointed out.

Taylor shook her head, "I don't care. I'll talk Tsunade into it, I promise. I just...I want Grandpa on this mission...cause Dalzen is his sensei and..."

She looked down.

"I don't know...I just think that it makes sense for him to come with..."

Dalzen walked in, surprised to see Taylor.

"Huh? W-What's going on?"

Taylor turned around to look at her friend and grinned.

"We're gonna fix this, Dalzen," she promised.

"What?"

"Iwa has the jutsu," Kakashi explained. "And Taylor is going to assemble the team to go there to use it."

Dalzen looked at the youngest Hatake.

"R-Really?"

"Mhm," Taylor smiled. "Really."

"That's great!" Dalzen exclaimed, oddly happy. Although, who wouldn't be happy to know that there is a way home?

"After I eat, I'll go get Tsunade's permission to assemble a team and use the jutsu to get you back," Taylor grinned.

"Good," Dalzen nodded.

.

As soon as Taylor finished eating, she ordered everyone to gather their stuff.

"I want y'all to be prepared to leave immediately," Taylor explained, getting her stuff together. "Iwa is five days away and we haven't got a lot of time."

"Are you sure about having me on the team, Taylor?" Sakumo asked.

"I'm positive. Just do as I say and get ready, all y'all," she ordered. "I'll be back in about thirty minutes...give or take."

She slid her katana into its sheath and slung her backpack over to the door, then she left quickly to go talk to Tsunade.

.

Taylor quickly found Ibiki and told him what was going on and told him to meet her at her house outside the village and he did as she said, while she headed for the Hokage.

.

As soon as she got to Tsunade's office, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," came the hokage's voice.

She walked in and up to Tsunade's desk.

"I just received word from the Tsuchikage...and he has the jutsu to send Dalzen-Sensei back to his time and to repair the holes in the fabric of space time. I need to make that trip with a team I've composed," the youngest Hatake explained.

"Alright, who did you pick other than Dalzen since he has to go?"

"Kakashi Hatake, Sakumo Hatake and Ibiki Morino," Taylor answered with a steady voice.

"Sakumo? But he's not a —"

"I don't care," Taylor shook her head. "We need Grandpa on this mission. He is Dalzen's former student, and I do not see why he can't come, if only just to say goodbye."

Tsunade stared at the girl, wondering what to say that won't upset her.

"Please Tsunade," Taylor begged. "He still helps me train so he's just as he was two years ago. We don't have time to argue about this, just please allow him this one last mission."

The hokage looked down.

"Alright, fine. I will permit it," she sighed in defeat. "Just this one mission though!"

Taylor smiled, "Thank you Lady Tsunade."

"Now, get on with your mission as fast as you can," the hokage glanced back up at Taylor and she smiled wryly. "The world is waiting for you, Hero of the Leaf."

Taylor bowed, not catching the very last part but oh well.

"Thank you Lady Tsunade, I'll be back in a few weeks and that is a promise."

"You better," Tsunade smiled as Taylor left as quickly as she came. Then, the hokage stood up and turned around to look out the window. It took a few minutes but eventually she caught sight of Taylor running as fast as she could to go get started on the mission and the hokage smiled a bit, lost in thought. _She'll be a legend like her father and her grandfather before her and I am almost certain her name will be the Hero of the Leaf_, she thought positively.

The white light of the sun filtered in and reflected off the hokage's face, _I'm almost certain._

.

As soon as she got back to her house, Ibiki was already there, waiting patiently for her. She ran up to her fence and jumped over it. Then, she turned and looked at him.

"Give me a few moments, Ibiki, to get everyone else out here and then we'll start our mission."

"Right..." the youngest Morino watched her dash back into the house.

Taylor opened the door and grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

"Our mission is a go!" she gestured for them to get out. "Let's go!"

Kakashi, Dalzen and Sakumo got out of the house and just before Taylor could follow them out, she saw Coushander and Jiraiya. Coushander looked concerned.

"Taylor...what are you doing...?"

"I'll be fine," she gave him a thumbs up. "I promise you, Coushander. I'll be back, I promise," she promised, even though he can't hear her. She smiled sweetly at the elder and she turned around, about to leave.

"No, d-don't leave me here alone," Coushander whined. "Taylor—"

Taylor closed the door behind her. Silently, she locked the door and bounded down the porch steps and rushed over to the team she assembled.

"Our mission is a trip to Iwa to the Tsuchikage," she made clear. "He has the scroll to get Dalzen back to his time. The trip takes five days, give or take. I know it's a bit late in the evening, but we're heading out to the other side of the country, where there will be a small inn we will be staying in for the night since we're gonna need our sleep for the next few days. I stay there when I'm heading that way. So, if I'm right...we're heading northwest."

"Yes," Dalzen nodded. "I've made maps before and I know Iwa is northwest."

"Oh, well that's great," Taylor grinned. "Well, we don't have any time to waste. Let's go!"

.

.


	8. The Journey

_Into The Future_

.

.

Chapter Eight  
**_The Journey (Part I)_**

.

"So, you're telling me that the kid that works at this inn is in love with Taylor?" Dalzen asked Kakashi.

"Yeah," Kakashi grinned behind his indigo mask, then looking at Taylor. "That's why she goes there, next to the nice beds and hot springs."

"Daaaad shut up!" Taylor groaned.

"Oh?" Dalzen looked at the blushing girl. "Don't stop, Kakashi, I want to hear this. Taylor has a boyfriend?"

"Dalzen!" Taylor groaned.

"Okay, I'll stop pressing," he backed off.

"I'll tell you about it when she goes out to talk to him," Kakashi whispered to Dalzen.

"Sounds like a plan," Dalzen gave Kakashi a quick grin at the idea.

Taylor sighed, "This is gonna be a long trip..."

Ibiki looked at the embarrassed girl and smiled a bit.

"You look so embarrassed," he commented.

"Because I am," she sighed.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about. We all go out with someone eventually," Ibiki told her.

"Yeah...guess you're right, Ibiki-Sama," she sighed.

.

When they got there, Eisen Fujiwara was asleep at the front desk in his wait for them. The youngest Hatake had sent her owl to him with a note saying they'll be there in a few hours. While he waited, he laid his head on his first and fell asleep right there at the front desk. He was asleep up until Taylor woke him up.

"Wake up," Taylor reached over the desk and shook him awake. "Eisen!"

The 17-year-old boy jolted awake.

"Huh!?" he looked up. "Oh...it's you."

"You bet it's me," she grinned. "And the team I've assembled...we need a room, we're headed northwest."

"Alright. Your usual room that you end up in almost every time?"

"I don't know if there's enough beds in that one," Taylor admitted. "There's just three in that one and today I've got five people," she stepped aside to show him.

"Oh..." he looked at the list of rooms. "I have a four-bed room open, but that's it," Eisen said.

Taylor looked at them.

"Someone is sleeping with someone," she said.

"Well then, you're sleeping with me," Kakashi winked.

Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know you'd love that," Taylor grinned at Kakashi. "I can live with that. I guess we'll take a four-bed room then, Eisen," she looked back at her friend.

"Alright," he reached into the drawer and pulled out a key and threw it to Taylor. "Meet you outback in ten?"

Taylor caught the key with her right hand.

"Sounds like a plan, Eisen," she winked. "See ya then."

Eisen grinned and watched them go off to find the room.

While Kakashi, Dalzen and sakumo teased Taylor, she ignored them as best as she could and looked for the room. Eventually, she found the room and led them in.

"You guys get settled in," she said, taking off her backpack and taking off her katana sheath and she sat them down by her and Kakashi's bed.

"And what are you gonna do?" Dalzen teased.

"Go see Eisen, of course," she answered bluntly.

"Aww..." Sakumo grinned.

"Shut up," Taylor grumbled. "I'll be back in about an hour. Alright?"

"Yeah," Kakashi nodded. "Go have some fun."

"I will," Taylor bowed and left, then headed outside to the back porch, if you could call it that. For about ten minutes, Taylor was left alone to stare at the stars, up until Eisen came outside with a treat for her.

"Hey, I brought you something," he told Taylor.

She looked over her shoulder at him.

"What'd you get?" she wondered.

"Chocolate milkshake, your favorite," Eisen grinned.

Taylor spun around and grabbed it.

"Oh! Thank you,"she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Here's a spoon for it," he handed her a plastic spoon.

"Thank you," she took the spoon and started eating the chocolate milkshake, since it was actually technically ice cream but they called it a milkshake.

Eisen grinned and stood beside her. Taylor turned back around and stared out at the stars.

"So what's been going on?" Eisen asked.

"Nothing, really," she lied.

"Nothing? Sounds more like something. C'mon, what's up?"

Taylor looked down.

"Did you see the tall man in the not-so-detailed vest in my group?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"He's...an old friend," she explained. "From two-and-a-half years ago, when I disappeared for two months...my excursion into the past, where I met him and my great-grandfather and my great-granduncle."

"Eisen looked at her.

"If you met him in the past, then how is he...?"

"He was sent into the future, our time," she answered. "He would be back already if Lady Tsunade hasn't burned the scroll that could get him back. We sent out letters to every shinobi village we could and finally, half a month later, we get a response that someone does have the scroll."

"Who has it?"

"Iwa."

"Iwa?"

Taylor nodded, "Yeah. We're headed there on this mission...five days away from the village."

"Oh..."

"Yeah..."

They fell silent and all they could hear were the crickets chirping and Taylor's uneasy breathing. The moon's light illuminated upon Taylor's pale face and her silver hair. A warm, summer breeze made her hair flow with it. Eisen looked at her and took note of her concerned expression, but he said nothing and just admired her natural beauty.

A heavy sigh left Taylor's thin lips and she looked at Eisen.

"I have a plan," she said. "But...it's pretty risky."

"A plan? For what?"

"Let me tell you then..."

.

"What?!" Eisen exclaimed. "Taylor, that's insane!"

"Perhaps it is, Eisen," she admitted. "But I want to make sure Dalzen gets home safe."

"Yeah, but what if you get trapped there?!"

"I won't though," Taylor said. "Or...at least I shouldn't get trapped there...I've got the jutsu that'll take me back."

"Taylor, are you crazy?!" the brown-haired boy stared at his girlfriend with concern.

"No," the silver-haired girl said rather forcefully, glancing at her friend. Behind those icy eyes formed a memory of her great-grandfather and a wry smile formed on her lips. "I am a lunatic."

The boy stared at her in disbelief but then he nodded in agreement at the first believable thing she's said so far. "Aah, y-yes. A lunatic indeed."

Taylor looked up at the dark sky and watched as the moon got hidden behind dark storm clouds.

"Do you really want to do it? Escort him home and protect him, I mean," Eisen asked, his lavender eyes setting on Taylor's face.

She looked back at him and it started thundering and there was flashes of lightning in the distance.

"He's my friend," she started. "I won't let him get hurt...I refuse for him to get hurt because he's my friend...so yes, I want to escort him back when he's heading back to Konoha."

Rain began pouring down on them and Eisen smiled.

"If you really want to go...what kind of boyfriend would I be to stop you?"

"I don't know," Taylor said, brushing a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

They looked out again.

"How about a goodbye kiss?" Taylor suggested. "In case...I don't return and we all die?"

"What?"

"It's a possibility," Taylor sighed. "If I don't return and I'm dead, then we all die because no one else can fix the holes. It's a risk I'm willing to take...I won't let my comrades or my friends or my family die...I would die for you guys. Although, sometimes I question if I'd do it for Yuri and Daiichi, but that's beside the point. The point is, if I don't make it, I at least want a goodbye kiss first."

"Taylor?"

She looked at him.

"Please?"

Eisen stared at her, looked down and then back up.

"I suppose that's a reasonable demand from you," he put his hands on her face and he held her face gently as he brought himself closer to her.

"You ready?" he asked. "Cause I know you aren't usually one for kissing."

"Yeah," Taylor hesitated. "I wanna have our first kiss..."

"Alright, if you're positive..." he brought her in and he placed his lips on her and they made out for several minutes out in the rain. When they were done, both of them pulled away and looked away from each other in embarrassment.

"Uhm...I guess I should go to bed," Taylor murmured after a few moments of silence.

"Y-Yeah...good idea..." Eisen agreed. "I'll bring you back to your room. Prolly should get you a towel for your hair before you go in."

"Y-Yeah..."

Eisen brought Taylor back in and got her a towel to dry her hair and then he brought her back to her room.

"You done drying your hair?" Eisen asked.

"Yeah," Taylor nodded.

"I'll take it," he offered.

"Thanks," Taylor bowed, handing the towel over.

Eisen took it and they fell silent

"I uhmm...I need to go to bed," Taylor reminded.

"Y-Yeah," Eisen scrached behind his ear nervously. "I uhm...I l-love you."

Taylor nodded.

"Back at ya," she returned awkwardly.

"Please be safe and return," he pleaded her.

"I will do everything I can," she promised. "Night." She turned around and opened the door to the room, then she walked in and closed it behind her.

"Night..." Eisen whispered with concern.

Taylor grabbed dry clothes from her backpack and went to the bathroom to switch into them and left her damp clothes air dry. Then, she walked out and then laid down on her side beside her father.

"How'd it go?" he whispered.

"Well."

"Your face is pink. What'd you two do?"

"Nothing...j-just flirted."

"C'mon, I know you two didn't just flirt."

"Dad, we did nothing. Go to sleep!"

"You guys made out didn't you?"

"No...yes...I mean...!" Taylor covered her mouth. "Shit!"

"You did!" Kakashi grinned.

"Shut up!" Taylor hit Kakashi's shoulder. "Go to sleep!"

"Alright, alright," Kakashi put his arms around his daughter and pulled her close to him.

Taylor looked over her shoulder at him.

"I love you, Taylor," he told her. "Don't forget that."

"I won't, Daddy," she laid her head down and closed her eyes. Then, they both fell asleep.

.

They got up bright and early the next morning and had breakfast. Then, it was time to head out. They all gathered their things and headed out and trekked northwest for a good twelve hours. Only once did they stop in those twelve hours, and that was to have lunch in a small town they had to pass through.

At the end of they day, they were slightly past Konoha's border, into a country Taylor had no name for. As the team settled into the camp, Taylor sat down in her sleeping bag, writing in a diary for her own sake. It was an idea Saru-Shin had given her two years ago, as he told her how he died.

Taylor sipped her hot miso and began writing:

_Iwa Journey: Suiyoubi_, _first night pretty much. Hm, I think it's Wednesday at any rate..._ Taylor looked up at the sky. _Cloudy, humid, but unusually cold for the beginning of September. If I had to guess...I'd have to say it's about 50°._ With Dalzen looking over her shoulder in curiosity, she continued: _Nothing interesting has happened so far, other than constant lightning and thunder with no rain. I think that's pretty odd. Never really saw that before, but okay whatever floats the gods' boats. And...I think Dalzen is looking over my shoulder. I can't be sure though, because I know Dalzen would never look over my shoulder to read what I'm writing... Hm..._

Just before Taylor placed a seal on her light blue notebook with white flower designs printed on it, Dalzen read that last part where she was hinting that she knew he was looking over her shoulder. A bead of sweat slipped down Dalzen's cheek and he tried to pretend he wasn't looking.

Taylor looked over her shoulder, slipping the pencil behind her ear.

"Yes, Dalzen?"

"Uhm...nothing," he answered. "Maybe I'm curious as to what you're doing, though."

"Writing a journal," Taylor said. "I do it...sorta to remember Saru...I miss him singing in my room. It's kinda lonely sometimes, not having him in the room with me like he was when he was still here...him telling me jokes or just humming with me..."

Dalzen looked at Taylor, hunched over a bit with a distant look on her face. She clutched her notebook and Dalzen glanced down.

"I miss him too," he admitted to Taylor. "Actually, I think all of us miss him. Coushander the most, though. No one can miss Saru as much as Coushander does."

"Pfft..." Taylor rolled her eyes. "I don't know. I might be right up there with Coushander." She looked out of the corner of her eye at Dalzen. "Tell me...how did Grandpa take me leaving? I never had the chance to ask..."

"Coushander?" Dalzen looked up and an amused smile appeared. "He bawled his eyes out for day. Prolly even a few weeks. I think he was thinking about all of his losses at once...or perhaps he did really love you like he did Saru and...oh...what was her name...Matty? Yeah..."

"Did he really cry for me?" Taylor asked.

"If I know him well enough, yeah," Dalzen shrugged. "He didn't say. Kano and I checked up on him for a few weeks but not once did he tell us if he was crying just for you or everyone he's lost."

They fell silence and a tear fell down Taylor's eye and she wiped it away.

"Poor Kousa..." she whispered in a broken voice. "He lost his brother, his wife...then he had me and then had me taken away after just two months..."

"Since when do you call him 'Kousa'?" Dalzen wondered.

Taylor shrugged.

"Saru called him 'Kousa' once. I just assumed it was his nickname, since it kinda sounds like a shortened version of 'Coushander'."

"Well, don't call him 'Kousa' to his face," Dalzen grinned. "Kano got me on that when I called him "Kousa" and she told me he'd go off his rocker if he knew I called him that. He'd go bonkers if he knew _you_, of all people, called him 'Kousa'."

Taylor giggled through her broken voice.

"I suppose he would...I wouldn't be surprised," she giggled.

Dalzen sighed.

"You're right, though..." he admitted. "Coushander losing his brother, then his wife years later and then having you for two months and having you taken away from him...must be difficult for him sometimes."

"Yeah," Taylor agreed, picking up her bowl of miso and gulping down the rest of the broth. "More than difficult...Coushander is kinda like me, he's emotional...at least that's what I gathered from him. I don't blame him...I'd probably be the same way if I lost Dad and Grandpa and Eisen... I would probably end up like Kousa."

"Okay stop calling him 'Kousa', it sounds stupid coming from you," Dalzen told her. "But...that would be your luck, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah..."

Dalzen thought for a moment.

"How come you made today day one and not yesterday?" Dalzen wondered.

"Because..." Taylor shrugged. "I guess I figured today should be day one, considering it was a full day on the mission...or I forgot to do it last night. I don't know, take your pick."

Taylor slipped the notebook into her backpack and slipped her pencil into its spiral and she closed her bag.

"My dad is about to put out the fire," she told Dalzen. "Which means we have to sleep."

"Yeah..." Dalzen nodded. "Guess I'll head back to my bed." He rose to his feet and put his hand on Taylor's head, then he walked past her to his bed. Taylor watched him look in the fire for awhile, up until Kakashi put it out with a bucket of water. Then, he silently walked to his bed and he laid down.

"We wake up early tomorrow at about pre-dawn, or at least when it gets light out," Taylor, as the leader of the team, told them. "And then we keep on heading northwest. Alright?"

"Yup," everyone acknowledged her.

"Alright then," Taylor laid down on her side and stared out at the cloudy sky, allowing the sound of crickets chirping to lull her to sleep.

.

Coushander stood in Taylor's empty bedroom that night, thinking about her. It's been so long since he'd seen her, up until nearly a week ago. Then, he found out the world was coming to an end...and then the night before, she left him for some stupid mission. The elder missed her. He thought about what she told him before she left two years ago and started to cry when he thought about it.

_"The...the entire time I was here," she started in a soft whisper. "I got to know a certain someone who is related to you by blood, my great-granduncle. I don't think it's in my place to say but, you've got a sweet brother, and I know he wants you to know how much he cares about you and that he's sorry that he died. All he was doing was protecting his younger brother. I know how much it hurts to think about him, and I am totally sorry, but he really would've wanted me to tell you that. Yes, the entire time I could see him and didn't bother telling you... And I thought about telling you several times, but I never did. And since I could see him...I thought...I thought I would tell you that before I left...hate me all you want for not telling you, but I thought you deserve to know now."_

Coushander held his head and weeped. "Taylor, I would never hate you. You're too sweet and kind to hate..." he looked towards her bed and saw a white katana leaning in between the bed and the night stand. And on that night stand, she had a photo of him and Saru before Kiri. He cried even harder, bringing him to his knees, "You're too kind..."

Little Jiraiya made his way into the room and walked up to Coushander and he tapped his shoulder.

"What's wrong otousan?" he asked.

Coushander looked at his son and we wiped away his tears.

"You won't understand, Jiraiya," he stood up shakily.

He shook a bit, "I'm fine." he turned around and stumbled back to his room, unable to believe he cried that hard. Sighing, he sat on his bed and dried his eyes. _But I do miss Taylor...I miss her like I miss them..._ He looked out his window and sighed. _What are you doing?_ he wondered._ Whatever you're doing, please be safe doing it._

.

Her eyes opened the next morning to her dad handing her a dry, healthy breakfast bar of some sort.

"For the morning to keep up your strength?" he smiled.

"Oh...right..." she sat up and took it. "Thanks."

"No problem," he grinned. "Let's head out, okay?"

"I know, I was about to say something. Dad, I'm the team leader. You should be letting me handle that on my own without reminders."

"Sorry," Kakashi apologized. "I can't help it."

Taylor stood up and rolled up her sleeping bag, shoving it into her backpack and then she slung it over her shoulder.

"Shall we get going then?"

"Yeah."

.

That day, they didn't have anything spectacular, just like the first night so at first all Taylor wrote down was her meteorological observations.

_Mokuyoubi; day two...still pretty overcast, breezy and chilly. Gonna storm soon, I know. I wonder why it's chilly...Are we closer to the equinox than I thought?_

She looked at the trees.

_I guess we are. The leaves are starting to go orange._

Then Taylor slapped a seal on the notebook and slid it into her backpack. Then, she went to sleep.

A night terror woke Taylor up, and she immediately sat up and rummaged through her bag for a flashlight and her journal. She took the seal off the book and turned on the flashlight, sticking it in her mouth. Then, she started scribbling down her dream.

_まよなか — Midnight; I just had a bad dream. I'm surprised I didn't scream because it was pretty scary. I don't know where I was, but I do recall running with Dalzen and rocks were falling on us...and we were trying to escape it...Then without warning a meteor crashed nearby and we were incinerated immediately because we were too close to the site of impact. Then I woke up because there wasn't any point for my subconscious to keep going if I was dead in the dream...What does it mean though? I don't know and that makes me a bit anxious._

She looked up. Amazingly enough, no one had woken up to her digging through her bag and her turning on her flashlight.

Taylor sighed, grateful they slept through it and she sat her notebook down on her lap and took the flashlight out from her clenched teeth. She turned it off and threw it back in her backpack and she clenched her pencil, then hit it against her head.

"_Baka_!" she whispered harshly at herself in anger. "Dammit."

Taylor put her hand on her head and sighed, "Saru..." she choked out. "I'm scared. What do I do?"

As if right on cue, she saw a ghostly figure sit down in front of her. It took a moment, but she recognized the person that sat in front of her. Guess who? Saru-Shin!

"Saru!" She exclaimed under her breath in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you were gone!"

Saru grinned.

"Perhaps in your time," he told her. "But not in Dalzen's."

"Eep! And I can hear you!" she reached over and hugged him tightly. "I missed you!"

He hugged her back, "I know you did. I overheard you and Dalzen last night. I never thought he'd miss me...of all people..." He grinned. "But I can't complain."

"Well, he does miss you!" Taylor confirmed for her uncle. "Ugh, I can't believe you're here Saru."

"Well, I am!" he grinned. "Oh, and I saw you write a journal entry for this mission like I did."

"Yeah," Taylor nodded. "Because I wanted to remember you..."

She looked down, "Hey Saru...let's move away from the camp a bit, so I don't end up waking anyone."

"Good idea."

Taylor stood up and wrapped up in her robe, then they walked a few feet from camp and started talking.

"So how come Dalzen is there with y'all?" he asked.

"There was another accident concerning the timeline," she explained. "This time, Dalzen was the victim."

"Ooh..." Saru winced.

"Yeah. And Lady Tsunade, the Hokage of my time, burned the scrolls with the jutsu to get him back," Taylor continued. "So we asked other shinobi villages if they had the scroll and one and a half months later we get a response from Iwa saying they do so now we're heading that way for it...and I have to patch up the holes in space-time..."

"Oh. Sounds fun," Saru said.

"Not really," Taylor disagreed.

"Yeah, I know," Saru grinned.

Taylor sighed heavily and moments passed before Taylor spoke up again.

"Y'know, I'm scared Saru... What if something happens and either Dalzen dies before he's supposed to or I end up dying?"

"Taylor, you don't have to worry about that," Saru grinned. "Because both of you are strong. You'll both make it out alive. I can guarantee that."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive," Saru smiled. "Would I ever lie to you?"

Taylor stared at Saru, then she smiled a little.

"Point taken."

"So what was that talk about you having a boyfriend?" he grinned.

"Let's not go there," Taylor groaned. "Please."

"Aw...you're no fun," Saru chuckled. "Geez. Won't let Dalzen tease you a little and you won't let me tease you. No fun!"

"I can be fun, I just don't feel like it right now," Taylor responded.

Saru smiled, "Still the Taylor I pretty much knew from two years ago."

Taylor smiled back.

"Yeah."

Once they finished talking, Taylor went back to her bed and added in her journal; _Got to see Uncle Saru from the first time in ages, just a few minutes ago. I miss him so much._

.

.


	9. The Journey Part II

_Into The Future_

.

Chapter 9  
**_The Journey (Part II)_**

.

.

Taylor managed to fall back asleep that night, and she woke up again when it was early morning. She was the first to wake up, so her job was to wake everyone else up, and that she did. Once everyone was awake, they headed out. Earth Country was just hours away, and then they had to cross the mountains to get to the Village Hidden in the Rocks.

Dalzen started to feel a bit excited: in a day or less, he was going to be home in his time without worry that the world was gonna end. Well, it'd be about a day as long as they weren't ambushed...

The day was insane, and they were ambushed...by nature herself. Well, insane might not be a good word. More like hell. At the end of the day, Dalzen recounted the day's events in Taylor's journal, for her sake and just so something was written in it for the third day, since she laid unconscious beside him.

_Kinyoubi- third day. Clear skies; breezy but warmer than the past few days...although it does feel a little chilly at certain moments..._

_It happened in the mountains. As soon as we got into the mountains, as Taylor likes to say, "Shit got real"..._

_We_ _were still walking_, Dalzen recalled. And just about to take a break when the ground beneath them began to tremble. Dalzen was the first to catch on to it, considering he'd been to many earthquake-prone areas for missions.

"Earthquake!" he exclaimed.

Everyone looked at him.

"He's right," Sakumo realized. "Get down, get down! Find a place that's safe!"

"Not like there is any place we can go to be safe," Taylor told him.

"Run!" Dalzen shouted over the sound of rocks breaking off from the mountains.

Not waiting for them to start running, he began running. Everyone followed suit and Taylor managed to catch up to him...up until a rock hit Taylor in the back of her head.

"Ah!" she cried out.

Dalzen skidded to a halt and glanced behind him him. Taylor had fallen down and from what he could see, she was bleeding from a wound on the back of her head.

"Taylor!" he exclaimed, watching the rocks beat down on her.

"Sensei!" Sakumo exclaimed. "You have to get Taylor, now!"

Dalzen spun completely around and raced back to pick up his fallen friend.

"She's bleeding," he remarked as he scooped her up into his arms and held her carefully.

"Dalzen! Move!" Sakumo exclaimed, pointing up.

Dalzen happened to glance up and he jumped aside before he and Taylor were crushed by the giant boulder that was falling. He landed hard on the rocky ground with a grunt. Once he recovered from the shock from his bad landing and the loud "thud" from the boulder landing, Dalzen sat up, still holding Taylor.

"Sakumo?" he looked around. "Kakashi? ...Ibiki...?" He looked at the boulder, blocking him from the rest of the team.

"We're okay!" Sakumo assured Dalzen.

"Oh, that's good," Dalzen breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you guys behind the rock?"

"Yeah," Sakumo answered. "With no way out."

"Shit," Dalzen muttered as he got Taylor off of him and made her sit up against the wall.

"Yeah," Sakumo agreed.

"How's Taylor?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't really know," Dalzen face Taylor's side and studied her. "I think she's okay..." Carefully, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently shook her. "Taylor? Are you awake? Are you okay?"

She made no response, and Saru's ghost made Taylor lay her head on or close to the opposite shoulder from Dalzen so he could see what happened.

"...Oh right..." he tried to part her hair to see. "She's bleeding from a wound on the back of her head and she's out cold."

"There should be bandages in her backpack," Kakashi told Dalzen. "Use those."

Dalzen reached into Taylor's backpack and dug through until he felt a rolled up ace bandage. Then, he pulled it out and started wrapping her head to stop the bleeding. When he was done, Dalzen closed his eyes and held his head.

"What do I do?" he wondered out loud to himself. "Taylor is hurt badly and everyone else is trapped behind that damn boulder."

"What do we do?" Ibiki asked.

"Well, if someone here is good at earth jutsu and is up for the challenge of trying to break this hunk of rock, well I don't know," he replied.

Dalzen sighed. He knew how to do a substitution earth jutsu, but nothing that could possibly break the rock.

Kakashi punched the boulder but nothing happened.

"Dammit," he groaned.

"It's okay, son," Sakumo promised. "Dalzen is there with Taylor and he won't let anything happen to her."

"I know," Kakashi grunted.

Dalzen pulled out his water bottle and drank some of it, then searched Taylor's bag for hers so he could make her drink some water so she's not dehydrated. He pulled it out and tried to get her to drink it.

"Come on, let me open your mouth so you get water in your system," he grumbled. "Stubborn...even in your sleep." He pried her clenched teeth apart and he gave her the water. "Please drink it."

The water did slide down into her throat and she unconsciously swallowed.

"...Thank you," he took the bottle away from her mouth and put the top back on.

Dalzen frowned.

"I'm talking to myself," he realized. "That's nice..."

He leaned against the wall and sighed heavily, looking out of the cave and at the distant sky. It was getting dark anyway. They weren't going to be able to go much farther, so there wasn't any point in trying to leave. Plus, Taylor was still unconscious and he needed her awake. Sighing heavily, he stood up and took Taylor's backpack off her back and he pulled out her robe first. _Her robe...I should get it on her so she's warm..._

He opened the robe and tried to slip her into it._ Oh hey...it looks like the one Coushander gave her..._ Once he got her in, he pulled out her sleeping bag and he set it out and laid her in it, laying her head on the pillow he found after he set out the bag. _Okay, she's comfortable..._ Dalzen sighed again and he pulled out his sleeping bag and he got comfortable.

"Guess we should get some rest," Sakumo suggested to Kakashi and Ibiki.

"Yeah, good idea, Sakumo-Sama," Ibiki agreed.

"I suppose you're right," Kakashi reluctantly agreed.

Dalzen noticed Taylor's journal half out of her bag and he picked it up, looking at her.

"I won't read it," he promised, undoing the seal and pulling out a pen to start writing down what happened for her.

_Please wake up,_ he wrote to finish the journal entry. _Wake up in the morning..._

Setting the journal down in the bag, Dalzen stretched and laid down. When he fell asleep, he slept without dreams, which was normal for him.

.

When she woke up, it was early morning and Dalzen was still asleep. She opened her blue eyes and stared up at the ceiling. _Where am_ _I_? She wondered. It took her a moment to force herself to sit up and when she did, she looked around and then she looked down. _How'd I get into my robe? I don't remember..._ She looked beside her and saw Dalzen sleeping in his sleeping bag. _Why do I only see Dalzen? Where's Daddy and Grandpa and Ibiki? _Taylor grunted as she stood up and looked around and her blue eyes fell upon the boulder which separated her from her father and her grandfather and Ibiki.

"What happened?" she asked in a tiny whisper.

Taylor looked down at Dalzen, sleeping pretty peacefully

"Earthquake," a voice, that definitely did not belong to Dalzen, told her.

She spun around.

"Saru?!"

"Earthquake," he repeated. "A rock fell and hit you on the back of your head, knocking you out. Dalzen scooped you up and that boulder crash-landed. Luckily, Dalzen threw himself and you out of the way so neither one of you were hurt."

"Where's the rest of us?" Taylor asked.

"On the other side," Saru answered.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Taylor frowned.

"How are they gonna finish the mission if they can't follow?" she asked.

"I don't know," Saru admitted.

"Taylor?"

Taylor looked at where the voice came from and it had come from behind the rock.

"Y-Yeah?" she put up her index finger to Saru like, "don't talk for a few minutes" and she had no clue who was talking to her.

"It's me, Daddy. You're finally awake?"

"Yeah," Taylor sat down beside the rock. "Dad, are you guys okay?"

"Yes, we're fine, Taylor. The better question is; are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Taylor answered quickly. "Small headache but like that is gonna stop me."

"Good. Taylor, I think you and Dalzen are gonna have to finish the trip to Iwa without us. No one here can get rid of this boulder and it is gonna take awhile to get around."

"But Dad!" Taylor exclaimed.

"What?"

Taylor clenched her jaw and rested her forehead on the rock. "Nothing," was the word that came from her mouth. _So much for hugs before I make this daring trip back into the past._

Kakashi's grey eyes stared at the rock blankly like he didn't believe her.

"What? What is it?" he probed. "You can tell me...right?"

"I uhm..." Taylor swallowed hard and continued with much reluctance, "I'm gonna go into the past with Dalzen to make sure he gets back safe."

"What?!" Kakashi's eyes widened with concern. "Taylor, are you nuts?"

"Like I've said a thousand times, I'm a lunatic."

"Taylor...what if you get trapped?!"

She looked downed and clenched her robe. Then, she closed her eyes and said forcefully, "I'm not scared anymore."

Kakashi looked pretty shocked by what she said. Taylor glanced back up at the rock.

"I'll be fine as long as I have the scroll...I hope..."

The fell silent.

"Those who disregard the rules are regarded as rubbish," she quoted hesitantly. "But, those who abandon their friends are even worse."

Kakashi looked even more startled, but Taylor couldn't see it.

She continued, "I'm not gonna do any rule breaking, of course not...but...Dalzen...he's my friend...and I can't abandon him. He...he needs me there with him in case something happens..."

Wearily, she glanced at Saru who smiled at her and nodded. Kakashi smiled proudly at his daughter.

"Please...come back safe," he pleaded.

"I will," Taylor promised.

"...That's my girl," he smiled wearily. "...I love you..."

"I love you too, Daddy," Taylor choked out, rising to her feet. "You be safe..." she whispered.

.

She waited for Dalzen to wake up on his own. Taylor figured it was the least she could do to make up for yesterday. When he did finally wake up, he woke up to Taylor crouched beside him. Slowly, Dalzen opened his eyes and those dark grey eyes revealed Taylor watching him.

"Huh?" the groggy Morino stared up at Taylor.

"Ohayo," she grinned.

"O...hayo?" Dalzen sat up. "...You're awake?"

She nodded.

"Yeah," she answered. "Been awake for at least an hour. I was just waiting for you to wake up."

"What time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch," was Taylor's smartass response.

Dalzen frowned.

"Smartass," he grumbled. "Not happening."

"Yeah," she grinned. "But...I dunno...I'd guess about 7 in the morning."

"Why'd you wait on me?"

"Because I thought it was the least I could do because of yesterday?"

_Whatever makes you feel better,_ he thought. _I don't think I needed the extra sleep but...okay._

"Thanks," he said instead.

"Mhm," Taylor smiled.

"You're awfully cheery for someone who was knocked out by a falling rock," Dalzen commented.

"Yeah." Taylor shrugged. "I know my head hurts but it isn't all that bad right now. It's easy to ignore right not."

"...Alrighty then," Dalzen shrugged.

Taylor smiled, then went over to her stuff to start packing.

"What are you doing?" Dalzen asked.

"Packing so we can continue to Iwa."

"Without everyone else?"

"My dad told me to take you to Iwa without them."

"What?" Dalzen slid off his sleeping bag. "Without them?"

"Yeah...we can't wait on them, there just isn't enough time. We have to get going," Taylor explained. "They all said they wish you good luck though.

Dalzen nodded.

"Well then...when you get home give them my thanks."

"Will do, Sensei," Taylor grinned.

They packed up their stuff and then headed out to Iwagakure. It took less than five hours to complete the journey, and when they got to the gate, they were stopped by the guards.

"What do you think you two are doing?" a guard asked Taylor and Dalzen..

"Your kage gave us permission to come here to retrieve a scroll," Dalzen told them.

"Let them in," came a strange voice.

Everyone looked.

"Lord Tsuchikage," the guards bowed, Taylor and Dalzen following suit.

"Let them in," the kage ordered. "Please."

"Yes sir," the guards stepped aside for the two to go in and follow the kage.

Taylor and Dalzen followed him.

"I assume you're the copy ninja's child and his friend?"

"_Her_," Taylor corrected politely. "I'm a girl."

The Tsuchikage looked over at Taylor.

"Sorry, sometimes these old eyes don't catch those differences. My apologies, ma'am."

Taylor nodded.

"It happens all the time," she assured. "Don't worry."

He smiled a little and turned forward again.

"And you guys are here for the time scroll?"

"Yes sir. I need to get my friend back to his time before the world ends on us," Taylor said.

"How so, Miss Hatake? The world ending, I mean."

"It's a long and complicated story, sir," Taylor told him. "Let's just say it's from all the time travelling that's been done and we'll leave it at that.

The Tsuchikage nodded.

"Sounds reasonable enough."

The Hatake nodded curtly as they approached the archives.

"Will you two wait outside while I get the scroll?"

Taylor and Dalzen nodded.

"Yes sir," they said.

The man bowed slightly and headed into the archives. Dalzen and Taylor were left alone and Taylor took the chance to hum. Dalzen glanced at her after a few moments and he frowned.

"Saru-Shin," he looked back up.

Taylor stopped mid-hum and looked at Dalzen, who looked back down at her.

"What?" he wondered. "You're like him though."

"How?"

"You like to drive me bonkers with your humming or singing," he pointed out.

"Yeah?" Taylor folded her arms. "How else am I like Saru?"

"You're short."

"Other than that!"

"You're really strong," Dalzen continued. "Powerful...you've got a sense of humor..."

"Okay, you make a good point," she grinned.

"And you grin like him!" Dalzen added quickly.

"I do?"

"Yeah, sometimes," Dalzen nodded. "You certainly just looked like him a little not too long ago."

"Oh."

Taylor and Dalzen both looked forward as the Tsuchikage came back with the scroll.

"Here is the scroll," he gave it to Taylor.

"Thank you," she attached it to a rope for her to carry it on her back. "Uhmm...Lord Tsuchikage, since this is your scroll, I must get your permission. When I am done with this, I wish to burn it, please." She looked at the kage with her bright blue eyes. "It's for assurance...that this doesn't fall into the wrong hands ever again. This jutsu damages the very fabric of space and time and we can't have that, sir."

The Tsuchikage looked at the girl and nodded.

"Of course," he agreed, his grey eyes fixing on her blue eyes. "we would not want more incidents like your friend's."

"Yeah," Taylor agreed. _And mine_, she thought bitterly. _I sure hope I know what I am doing._

"I suggest you take that scroll out of here," the kage warned. "You don't want to appear here however far back you have to go."

"Yes sir," Taylor bowed. "Will do. And if you don't mind...could you direct us to a place for us to have lunch? We haven't eaten yet and we need to keep up our strength."

"Of course. There's a nice ramen shop over on the corner over there. I can never remember the name of it, but...some of the shinobi tell me it resembles your Ichiraku's," he pointed out.

Taylor nodded.

"Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage," she bowed.

"It's nothing, Miss Hatake."

"Take care," she smiled.

"You too," the kage waved as the two left to eat lunch before the trekked out to the mountains.

Taylor spotted the ramen shop and took Dalzen in with her.

"We need to eat," she told him.

"I know that," Dalzen sighed as they sat down.

"A real meal too," Taylor added.

"Yeah."

A waiter came up to them and asked them what they wanted to drink.

"Water," they both said at the same time.

The waiter bowed and left to get them water. Taylor sighed as she looked at the menu.

"I hate trying to figure out what to eat," she told Dalzen.

"Yeah..." he agreed.

Minutes later, the waiter came back with their water and took their orders, starting with Dalzen. He put his hand on his head and shrugged.

"Y'know...whatever she's getting because I have no idea..." he said.

"Oh that's nice...make me choose," Taylor grumbled. "Fine. Miso ramen, please."

The waiter bowed and left.

"Why?" Taylor asked Dalzen.

"I really don't know. Just because I felt like it?" Dalzen shrugged.

Taylor laid her head on her hand.

"Okay." she murmured, drinking her water.

.

They ate and cleared their bowls within thirty minutes and Taylor paid of it. Once she paid, they left and went near the mountains to do the jutsu.

"You gonna say goodbye?" Dalzen asked when she pulled out the scroll.

"No," Taylor looked at him. "I'm coming with you."

"What?" Dalzen looked at her in surprise. "You're serious?"

"Yes," Taylor bit her thumb gently as she thought.

"But aren't you afraid to get trapped?" he asked.

"Not if it's to keep my friend from getting hurt," Taylor looked up at him and smiled. "I'm not scared anymore."

"I won't be hurt —"

"Those boys that you said sent you here are still out there with that scroll," Taylor reminded him. "I have to make sure you get home safe."

"Are you sure about this?" Dalzen asked.

Taylor stood up and looked at Dalzen.

"I'm positive," she assured. "I will not let you get hurt, I promise. Make sure you're touching me so we don't get lost. I dunno if this one is a wormhole or not."

"...Of course," he grabbed her arm.

"Ready?" Taylor asked, a slight tone of nervousness infiltrated her soft and steady voice.

"Y-Yes...I am definitely ready..."

Closing her eyes, Taylor started doing the hand signs for the jutsu and they disappeared from sight in that time, and they reappeared in Dalzen's time.

.

.


	10. If I Drown Tonight Bring Me Back To Life

_I__nto The Future_

.

.

Chapter 10  
**_If I Drown Tonight, Bring Me Back To Life_**

.

They were in the past, in Dalzen's time. Taylor and Dalzen studied their surroundings.

"We're in the past," Taylor remarked.

"Yeah," Dalzen let go of her arm and folded his arms against his chest. "So...we head back to the Leaf?"

"Yeah," Taylor nodded. "That's where you were originally supposed to go, right?"

"Yes," Dalzen started walking. "Let's go."

"Of course," Taylor followed him.

.

They settled in for the night on the other side of the mountains. They had found shelter in an inn near the border and they got a room to sleep in for the night. Taylor sat outside with her flashlight, journal and pen and she began writing for the 4th day.

_Doyoubi- Fourth day. It is about 55 degrees with clear skies. Full moon. And there is a gentle breeze too...it's pretty nice._

Taylor looked up at the clearing sky.

_We're in Dalzen's time now, but without Daddy and Grandpa and Ibiki...of course. I had no intentions of bring them here with us, but I do feel bad that I couldn't give Dad and Grandpa any hugs before we left..._

She sighed.

_I hope I can get Dalzen home safe and sound...and save the world..._

Sighing, Taylor closed her journal.

"Taylor, get inside dammit!" Dalzen exclaimed. "You're letting the heat out."

"Since when are you concerned about letting the heat out?" Taylor rose to her feet and went inside and she slid the door closed behind her.

"I don't know, maybe since it started to get chilly in here?" Dalzen frowned.

Taylor shrugged and turned off her flashlight and she sat down on her bed.

"I'm gonna visit Coushander before I leave," she said to break the silence that followed her sitting down. "I want to make sure he's okay."

"You sure?" Dalzen asked.

"Yeah..." Taylor nodded. "He still remembers me so I should be able to go see him..."

"If you say so...I suppose we can stop by Coushander's before you leave..."

Taylor smiled.

"Awesome," she slapped a seal on her notebook and put it into her backpack. "Night, Sensei."

"Night..." Dalzen flicked the lights off and laid down in his bed.

Taylor slipped into her robe and laid down. Then, she closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

.

They spent the next two days traveling and they were almost back to the Leaf when they were ambushed by guess who? The two tower genin Dalzen encountered before. The ambush was directed at Taylor, who was hit in the head with a rock. She grabbed the back of her head quickly.

"Ow!" she yelled.

Dalzen looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

"No!" She spun around. "Someone threw a friggin' rock at my head! Who's there?!"

The boys crouched behind a bush and snickered.

"Leaf ninja are so easy to distract," Ayumu, with sandalwood brown hair, teased.

"Who's there?" Taylor growled. "If I find you, I'll friggin' tie you to a tree, upside-down!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Kenji, the boy with blonde hair and freckles dotting his cheeks, grinned.

"Come out you little shit!"

"_Shits_," Dalzen corrected. "There's two of them."

"How do you know?"

"Two voices. Plus, this is about the area I was attacked at," Dalzen explained.

"Aw man, and the tall dude is with her too," Ayumu muttered.

"Bleh...like he can do anything," Kenji grinned.

"Well, this is gonna be fun," Taylor grumbled, giving Dalzen her scroll and her backpack. "I'll take care of them...but I don't really need the extra weight."

"What are you gonna do?" Dalzen asked.

"Show them who they're messing with," Taylor turned around and searched for the boys.

"How far do we send her?" Ayumu asked.

"Thirty years into the past."

Ayumu looked at the scroll.

"We can choose where to send her too!" he grinned. "Where?"

"How about Kiri?" Kenji asked. "We'll put her right in the middle of the mission. That tall guy was on that mission...I did my research. Maybe we can hurt him if he sees the girl in the past."

"How do you know, Ken?"

"Because...Uncle Tai had something from the mission...he's Uchiha, remember?"

"Yeah..." Ayumu said. "But what was it that he had?"

"Memory," Kenji said. "His father told him about it, and who was on the mission there. Uhmmm...That guy was on it. Dalzen, I think is his name..."

"I wonder why Tai only told you."

"Because you weren't even born yet, Yumu," Kenji rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, nerd. Let's just do this!" Ayumu started doing the handsigns. _30年過去に;霧が暮れ (Thirty years into the past; Kirigakure)_, Ayumu thought as Taylor approached him and Kenji.

"What do you think you're— "

"_Okuru_!"

Taylor froze as she was sent even farther back in time. Dalzen froze when he saw her disappear and both boys jumped up from behind their bush.

"Haha!" Ayumu and Kenji high-fived each other.

"Yeah!" Kenji grinned.

Dalzen was both shocked and a bit pissed off.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed angrily.

Both boys looked at the Morino.

"What did you do to my friend?!" he growled, briskly walking over to them.

"We sent her into the past," Ayumu snickered.

Dalzen grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"How far?" he demanded.

"Thirty years," Ayumu stated. "And she's in Kiri, if you're wondering. But, you can't get her back. You can't do ninjutsu, Morino."

Dalzen clenched his teeth.

"Bring her back," he hissed. "Or I can promise you that you'll be locked up for a good long time."

"Can't bring her back," Kenji said.

"You will," Dalzen forced through his clenched teeth. "You will get her out of Kiri because that is the one place she does NOT belong."

.

Taylor looked around. _Where am I?_ she wondered. There were trees, but not like the ones she'd see back home. And they were all surrounded by a mist. The mist was so thick Taylor couldn't see past her nose. _This certainly isn't the Land of Fire...Is this...Kiri? _Dazedly, she looked around and stumbled through the misty air until she found a team walking around. _Huh?_ Immediately, through the mist she recognized the young Dalzen, and Coushander and even Saru. It was amazing that she could see them through the thick mist. _Oh no...this is the Kiri mission Saru had told me about. Perhaps I can tail them, at least to allow me the illusion that I'm not alone._

Taylor started tailing them. _I should've tried to memorize the scroll, but I don't think it would've been so easy..._ She shook her head. _I shouldn't have handed the scroll to Dalzen. Ugh, I hope he gets me back though._

The younger Dalzen sensed something off, but he pushed it away.

.

"You two will bring Taylor back before she does something that hurts me, or Coushander, or Kano or even Takato," the older Dalzen demanded.

"Why should we do that, Jerk-face?" Kenji snarled at Dalzen.

Dalzen shrugged.

"I don't know," he started. "Perhaps because if you don't, the world is gonna end because of all the time travel that's been going on is destroying the very fabric of space and time, and Taylor's the only person who can fix it."

"What if we don't care?" Ayumu asked.

"I'll make you care. I will make your lives a living hell," Dalzen hissed, his dark grey eyes showing no signs of "I'm kidding." Dalzen was most definitely not kidding.

"What are you gonna do? Arrest us?"

"No," Dalzen sighed in irritation. "You wanna play this game? Well then, so will I."

All he had to do was blink and both boys were trapped in a genjutsu.

"You two better not keep me long...or Taylor..." he grumbled.

.

Taylor was able to keep from being noticed, but she was still worried someone would take notice. _No one will notice_, she tried to assure herself.

The team settled in for the night and Taylor was hidden behind a tree to keep from being seen. The mist hasn't lifted, and her guess was that since it's Kiri, the mist doesn't lift very often. Who knew? Definitely not her because she had never been to Kiri before. She knew it from the academy and Saru's recollection of it. She knew back in the older Dalzen's time, it was still day, but there in Kiri it was night, which seriously threw her off. She wasn't sure whether or not to go to sleep.

She listened to Saru and Coushander talking to each other and she peeked out from behind the tree trunk to look at them. Their backs were to her, but she knew they were okay. _You guys are so cute_, she thought sadly. _I feel so bad for you, Coushander. I can never understand losing an older sibling...but I can empathize with you. _She turned back around and sighed softly. Laying her head down close to her shoulder, she dozed off. That answers the question of whether or not to sleep.

.

They boys were more stubborn than Taylor.

"You giving up yet?" Dalzen asked.

"Nope."

"Miserable brats," Dalzen muttered. "You're more stubborn than Taylor...and I didn't even know that was possible."

He looked at the sky.

"Y'all better give up soon," Dalzen noticed his head beginning to hurt but he ignored it.

.

Taylor woke up to the younger Dalzen standing over her. She opened her eyes and found herself staring at the young Morino.

"Oh...shit..." her blue eyes showed concern. This was not good. How did he find her?!

"Who are you?"

"None of your concern," Taylor hissed, upset surely. "Trust me, kid. You're gonna want to leave me alone."

"Kid?" Dalzen frowned. "Who are you calling a kid?"

"Leave it alone, Da— "she stopped herself from saying his name.

Dalzen pulled out a kunai.

"Who are you? Who are you working for?!"

"I told you, it's none of your business."

"Dalzen, what's going on?" Coushander walked over to him sleepily.

"Shit!" Taylor squeaked through her teeth. _Coushander, go away!_

Coushander looked at Taylor.

"This girl is here and it seems she's been following us," Dalzen told Coushander.

"Someone's been following us?" came a voice that wasn't Coushander's or Dalzen's. It was Saru's.

"Shit!" Taylor squeaked again. _Please don't get hurt..._ "I can't be here!" she stood up and tried to escape, but Dalzen pinned her to the tree.

"What's the matter?" Saru asked gently. "Leaving already?"

"You don't understand, I can't be here now!" Taylor exclaimed. "Let go of me, Dalzen. You're only hurting yourself."

"How do you know my name?"

"Because I'm from the future!" she cried.

"Try again," Dalzen hissed. "That's _impossible_."

"It isn't!" Taylor cried. "Please, you have to let me go. You're hurting your future self, please!"

"Let her go, Dalzen," Saru ordered. "She might as well be telling the truth."

"Fine," Dalzen let the girl go and Taylor stood straight.

"Please, I can't be here..."

"Of course," Saru smiled. "You go ahead."

Taylor bowed and dashed off.

"What was that for?" Dalzen asked.

"If she really is from the future, I'm not taking any risks," Saru told Dalzen. "Besides, she looked awfully like Coushander. That's a good hint that she may not be from this time."

"She did not look like me," Coushander argued.

"Yeah she did," Saru grinned. "Messy silver hair."

"I bet she was an Uchiha," Dalzen muttered.

"An Uchiha?" Saru laughed. "What Uchiha looks as young as her and has silver hair? Especially messy silver hair?"

"I don't know," Dalzen frowned. "Perhaps an Uchiha in disguise?"

"Oh Dalzen..." Saru sighed.

"Whatever. I'm going back to bed," Dalzen turned around and left to go back to the camp.

"Yeah, let's go back to sleep," Coushander agreed.

"Yeah...you're right," Saru sighed.

Coushander left and Saru watched the girl as she ran off. She looked really sincere and kind and honest. But, he wondered why she followed them. Was it truly because she knew them in the future?

Who knew? Saru sighed a little and went back to bed.

.

The older Dalzen noticed a sharp pain go through his head and he winced.

"What the hell?" he grunted. "Why is my head hurting?"

He got his answer when he saw the memory of him finding Taylor in Kiri and he gasped. "Oh shit...not good..." He glanced at the genin and they were pretty much ready much ready to give up now.

"I give! I give!" exclaimed Ayumu and Kenji. "Please, just stop the jutsu!"

"Good!" Dalzen was satisfied and he undid the genjutsu. "Reverse the damn time jutsu!"

Both boys got up and hurried to find out how to reverse the jutsu to bring Taylor back.

.

As she ran away from the camp, she tripped over her own feet and landed on her hands in a ditch.

"Ack!" she grunted.

For moments, she laid motionless. It wasn't long before she started crying. _I was just trying to protect Dalzen...but this is what I get for trying to protect him. I'm trapped in Kiri, only to hurt Dalzen and Coushander like the freakin' klutz I am. _Taylor cried for quite some time before she gather up the courage to stand up. When she did, she was greeted by a rogue ninja holding a knife to her throat. _Oh how lovely..._ she thought bitterly.

"Don't scream. Scream and you're dead."

"Fantastic," Taylor grumbled angrily.

"You're coming with me," the rogue told her.

"Like hell I am!" Taylor reached behind her and kicked the rogue.

He let go of her and she took the knife from him.

"Shall we dance, punk?" she asked.

The rogue pulled out another knife and attacked her.

.

"Okay, we found the way to bring her back," Kenji said.

"Good, now use it!" Dalzen ordered.

"Okay, okay!" Ayumu started studying the jutsu and practicing the handsigns.

.

Taylor was cornered on the dock over a lake. There was just an inch between her and the water.

"You don't want to do this," Taylor said. "Please, I've gotta save the world."

"Too late for that, brat," the rogue growled.

"You don't understand," Taylor told him.

"I don't give a shit," he responded, drawing his knife back. "Now to finish you off..."

Before Taylor could react to him, the rogue jammed the knife into her stomach. The girl gasped and she tried to step back, but her foot felt no desk and she reached too far and she fell into the lake.

"Dalzen!" she screamed, trying to move. She managed to grab the ledge of the deck.

"Shut up you stupid little brat," the rogue stepped on her fingers, which made Taylor let go.

"Gahh!" Taylor let go of the ledge and the rogue let Taylor sink into the lake. "Dalzen!"

She started to sink because she was simply too weak to move now. _Dalzen_, she thought. _Please...help me..._

Water entered her mouth and went to fill up her lungs, and just as she passed out, she was brought back to the older Dalzen's time. When she appeared, she was laying on the ground. Dalzen saw her and breathed a sign of relief.

"Oh thank god..." he took notice of the knife in her stomach and the fact that she was completely soaked in water. "Taylor! Oh my...what happened to you?!"

"She's unconscious. I think she was drowned cause she's wet," Kenji said.

"W-What do I do?"

"Mouth-to-mouth," Ayumu told him.

"What?"

"You're basically kissing her but not really because you're forcing air back into her lungs, and you're forcing the water out."

Dalzen winced a bit.

"I don't know..." he said.

"Do you want her to die?"

"Not really..."

"Do it, old man," Ayumu teased.

"Old —" Dalzen bit down on his teeth. "You're such a brat...fine."

He crouched down beside her.

"Taylor...don't wake up and slap me," he thought out loud. "I'm saving your ass."

"Make sure her nose is closed before you start," Ayumu added.

Awkwardly, Dalzen bent over and pinched Taylor's nose closed and he took a deep breath. Then, he opened Taylor's mouth and reluctantly placed his lips on hers. _This better be worth the embarrassment_, he thought bitterly. Carefully, he breathed into Taylor's mouth and he did it several times until she coughed up the water. Before Dalzen could even pull away, Taylor coughed up some water right into his mouth, which made him jerk away from him and spit the water out.

"Ugh, gross!" he grumbled. _That was a pleasant surprise,_ he thought bitterly. _Thank you, Taylor...not._

Saru-Shin, who'd been watching with the genin, burst out laughing.

"Haha!" he laughed. "She coughed up water into your mouth!"

Ayumu and Kenji started laughing when the realized what happened. Dalzen glared at the boys as he wiped his mouth.

"Haha," he sarcastically laughed. "That was _so_ funny."

The boys stopped.

"Sorry."

Dalzen sighed.

"And now that I've got Taylor breathing..." he scooped her up into his arms. "Can I trust you two to not run off while I take her to the hospital?"

"Yes..." the boys promised.

"Good. Because I have to take you two to Intel for what you have done."

"We understand..." the boys sighed.

"Good." Dalzen stood up. "Follow me."

Nodding, the boys followed Dalzen to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. _I hope you don't mind her being here an extra few days, Sakumo_, Dalzen thought. _Taylor got hurt in a sticky situation. The least I can do is get her to the hospital..._

.

.


	11. Dalzen's Final Goodbye

_Into The Future_

.

Chapter 11  
**_Dalzen's Final Goodbye_**

.

.

Dalzen brought Taylor into the Konoha hospital and specifically asked for Kano.

"I'm sorry sir, but she's busy."

"I need Kano Hoseki," Dalzen demanded as politely as he could, but there was irritation in his voice. "Please, get her."

"Fine," the nurse went looking for Kano. Minutes later, Kano came out and found him and Taylor.

"Kano..." Dalzen said.

"Dalzen?" Kano murmured in surprise, then she saw Taylor in his arms. "Taylor?"

"Long story!" Dalzen grunted. "Just...you need to fix her..."

"Alright, fine..." Kano led him to a room. "What are her injuries?"

"Uh...There's one on the back of her head she needs to have checked, it's a few days old though. But mainly, this wound on her stomach," he said. "I didn't take the knife out since I wasn't sure if that would make her worse or not."

"Good thinking," Kano praised him as they walked into the room. "You're right, it would've made her bleed out more."

"Good," he sighed, laying her down on the bed. "She almost drowned too...and I had to give her a uhm...mouth-to-mouth."

Kano looked at him.

"You did...what?"

"And she coughed up water into his mouth," Kenji taunted.

"Shut up, brat!" Dalzen bonked the kid on the head.

"He did it with our help," Ayumu mentioned for Kano. "We originally wanted to be medic but our parents didn't want that. We had one lesson before our mom told us no, and that lesson was a mouth-to-mouth."

"Who are they?" Kano wondered.

"Like I said, it's a long story," Dalzen grumbled. "They're under arrest, though..."

"Okay..." Kano sighed. "Give me some room to work. And if that's the case, go take them to Intel."

"Yeah...thank you, Kano," Dalzen bowed and left with the boys.

"We're sorry," Kenji apologized.

"For what we've done...we thought...it'd be funny," Ayumu continued.

"You thought it would be funny?" Dalzen scoffed. "Am I laughing?"

"No."

"It wasn't funny," Dalzen said.

"we know..."

Dalzen took them to Intel and he looked around. He was definitely back in his time; no color-coated lines at his feet; none of the maps they had were there, except for the one's he's sketched himself. Dalzen's attention was diverted above him — no cameras! A faint smile appeared on his face. It was the Intel he knew and loved.

"Dalzen!" one of the jounin called his name.

The tall man looked up and saw someone running towards him.

"What have you got?" a short man with dark, brown hair asked.

"These two," he handed the man both genin. "I want them locked up; at least until I or the Hokage himself gives the OK."

"Yes sir."

The man stared at Dalzen.

"Where have you been? Certainly not where you were supposed to be, Nidai came looking for you."

"It's a story I care not to tell right now," Dalzen replied.

"Alright..." the shorter man gestured the boys to follow him. "Follow me, boys."

"Thanks, Kizuna," Dalzen thanked the jounin.

"It's nothing man," the short jounin led the boys to the cellblocks.

"Wait..." Ayumu ran back to Dalzen. "Take the scroll...do whatever to it..."

"Thanks, kid."

"No problem, old man."

Dalzen frowned, but he headed to find the incinerator and he threw the scroll into it. He watched it burn and he sighed, _I hope this never happens again_, he thought. After he was sure the scroll was completely incinerated, he left to go check on Taylor. He returned to the hospital and to her room.

"How's she doing?" he asked Kano as he walked inside.

"She's lost a lot of blood, so she should be out for at least the rest of the evening and throughout the night."

"That's fine..." Dalzen sighed. "I'm sure the world will survive another day..."

"Now...Tell me what happened?"

"It's a long story," Dalzen sighed.

"I've got time right now..."

.

"So, I was summoned back to the Leaf," Dalzen started. "For...a mission. I get to about the border between the Fire and one of the unknown countries and those two boys came out of nowhere and threw me into the future...with Taylor. Now I didn't realize that at the time, and I continued on for two days until I saw Taylor and her team heading for the village. At first, I was sure it was a genjutsu — you know how I am — so I tried to release it before I was noticed, but Taylor caught sight of me and well..." he chuckled nervously. "She...'glomp-attacked' me and she confirms that I'm in the future...so for the next month-and-a-half I'm living with her and Sakumo and his son. One day, Taylor and I are heading down to Intel when we came across Takato...but we can't hear or touch him. So, we go to Intel and she spends five hours researching the topic, only to come to the conclusion that the world is coming to an end due to all the time travelling."

Kano looked at Dalzen.

"Coushander told me that...he claims he spoke to you all and actually hugged Taylor. I told him that he's seriously losing it..."

Dalzen scoffed but he smiled.

"He might be losing it, probably for the past thirty years, Kano...but he wasn't lying about talking to us," Dalzen told her.

"Damn..." Kano muttered.

"So, at that point, once we spoke to Coushander it became a race against time to get me back," he continued. "One of the kage Taylor had contacted had the scroll...it was the Tsuchikage, so we had to travel four days to Iwa just to get the scroll..."

"How'd Taylor get hurt?" Kano asked.

"The one on the back of her head is from when there was an earthquake in the mountains before we reached Iwa," Dalzen explained. "A rock hit her...then the recent one...I don't know, honestly. I suppose she got into a fight and that happened. I wasn't there with her, unfortunately."

He paused.

"I take that back. Technically I was," he took back. "But...I scared her off."

"How?"

"Kiri."

Kano's eyes widened.

"Kiri?!"

"Yeah...we stumbled upon the boys again and they sent her back thirty years to when we were in Kiri...I guess she followed us and when we were camping out, I found her...and woke her... I didn't know any better, because that was way before we met. I'm so glad she left before anything else happened. That would've ended badly for us — Saru's team — and the Kiri mission itself."

"Yeah..." Kano agreed.

"I hope she didn't think I was an asshole for that," he admitted with a wry chuckle. "And recognized that it wasn't the Dalzen she knows now..."

Kano looked at the petite girl, sleeping peacefully on the bed in her Hatake kimono that Kano had dug out of her backpack, thanks to Dalzen telling her that Taylor would like to be wearing that...

"She's a smart enough girl," she assured. "She's got the Hatake genes in her, so she would've known immediately that it wasn't the Dalzen she knows and loves," Kano smiled.

Dalzen looked at Taylor.

"Perhaps you're right..." he murmured.

Kano studied Dalzen for a moment and giggled. He looked at her, confused.

"What?"

"The idea of you giving Taylor a mouth-to-mouth," she giggled.

Dalzen crossed his arms and looked away, not amused.

"I was only doing what was necessary. She was drowned and I couldn't risk losing her," he grumbled. "I had no choice. It was either that or let those two strange idiots do it and I would rather it was me than one of those kids because God knows what they'd try on her."

"You care about her," Kano teased.

"As a friend," Dalzen grumbled.

"Like she's family. It's okay to say it, Dalzen. She's...a sweet kid. I wouldn't be surprised if she considered you her uncle, in some ways."

"She prolly does...because..." he shrugged. "I don't know...I called her my niece..."

"If she was my child I'd let you be her uncle," Kano grinned.

"But she's not."

"No, but she's Coushander and I's great-granddaughter," she told him. "That counts, right?"

Dalzen looked down.

"I suppose so."

Kano smiled.

"You do not speak of this to Coushander that I pulled a mouth-to-mouth. Hell, don't tell anyone about it.

"You have my word, I won't say anything," Kano promised.

.

Taylor woke up the next morning to Dalzen asleep in a chair beside her. Slowly, she opened her silver eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Her lungs felt heavy, almost like they were made of lead (or some heavy material, but lead was the first to come to her mind). Her stomach hurt badly, like something went right through it. And again, she was slipped into her robe without her knowledge. Stubbornly, she tried to sit up.

"Ack!" she winced.

"Whoa there, Tiger," came a voice. "Not so fast."

She looked and found Saru standing over her.

"Saru!"

"Lay down," he ordered.

"Aw, ruin my fun why don't you?"

"Would you like the wound in your abdomen to reopen?"

That stopped Taylor.

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

Taylor laid back down.

"what happened?"

"I don't know," he said. "You disappeared and came back in about an hour."

"Really?"

"You were following us on our mission to Kiri. I saw..."

"Oh my gosh!" Taylor exclaimed. "Were you, Dalzen and Coushander hurt? If so, I am so sorry! I should've hid myself better..."

"We were all hurt," Saru said. "But, we're okay now."

"Thank the goddess you're all okay..."

"Wish I could say the same for you..." Saru chuckled.

Suddenly, Dalzen woke up and looked at Taylor immediately, having heard her talking.

"Huh...?" he sat up straight. "Taylor...you're awake."

"Y-Yeah..." she said. "Wh-What happened?"

Taylor sat still, trying to remember.

"Kiri..I saw you guys and followed...you found me and I fled...I trip, cry a little, and then I stand up..." her eyes darted left to right and back while she tried to remember what happened. It took her a few minutes for her to remember what happened next. "A rogue shinobi found me and tried to hold me captive..."

Dalzen listened closely.

"I fought him," she continued after a few minutes. "And next thing I know, I'm cornered on a dock with no where to run...then he stabs me in the stomach and I unconsciously step back, a little too far...and I fall into the lake. I try to climb back up...but he stepped on my fingers, which made me let go...I couldn't swim. I mean, I can swim but at that moment in time, I couldn't from the pain...and then I pass out and then I wake up here.

"Do your fingers hurt still?" Dalzen asked. "I can go get Kano to fix that."

"Yeah, but later..."

She smiled weakly.

"But uhm...I-I vaguely remember someone doing something though...I felt someone's lips on mine...like they were..."

"Doing a mouth-to-mouth?"

"Yeah..." she said. "H-How'd you know?"

Reluctantly, he admitted it, "...I did it...I gave you the mouth-to-mouth."

"Really?" Taylor was surprised.

"Yes," Dalzen hung his head. "I had to save you...so I did what I had to..."

"And you coughed into his mouth!" Saru laughed.

"I what?" Taylor looked at Saru.

"Huh?" Dalzen looked at Taylor confused.

"Saru says I coughed up water into your mouth," Taylor told him.

"...You did..." Dalzen admitted hesitantly. "I didn't move fast enough and you coughed water right into my mouth."

"Aww! I'm sorry that happened, Dalzen," Taylor apologized quickly.

"Not your fault...I think," he sighed and stood up. "I'm gonna get Kano to wrap up your fingers."

"Okay..."

Dalzen left and brought Kano back to fix her fingers in just less than ten minutes. She came in and did her medic nin magic (at least magic to Taylor and Dalzen, who weren't medics.) on Taylor's fingers, then wrapped them up.

"How're you feeling?" Kano asked softly.

"Tired," Taylor admitted. "Numb...weak..."

"Good. I would expect that after all the blood you've lost," Kano said.

"Do I need to tell you how I got the wounds?"

"Dalzen already told me about how you sustained those wounds, so you don't need to tell me," Kano assured.

"Okay..." Taylor smiled weakly.

"You'll be here for at least another two days," Kano said. "Or three. And I'll send you home on crutches."

"Okay," Taylor acknowledged.

"Try to not sit up much," Kano suggested. "And uhm...I'll go make you two some lunch."

"You're gonna make us lunch?" Taylor asked.

"Well, for Coushander and Jiraiya but I'll make enough for you two for you to eat...there's really nothing good on the cafeteria menu for today...so I'll be back in an hour and a half."

"Okay," Taylor smiled.

Kano smiled and left, leaving Taylor and Dalzen alone.

"So you can still see Saru's ghost?" Dalzen asked Taylor.

"In this time I can," she told him. "And back in my time whenever it was possible...but he moved on once he was sure I was safe at home..."

"...Oh..." Dalzen thought for a moment. "Saru...Were you laughing when I...when Taylor coughed up water into my mouth?" He was pretty sure that was a yet, but he was curious.

"Oh yes, I did laugh," Saru grinned. "And I'm still laughing."

"He did laugh," Taylor said. "And still is."

"Oh...I was just curious..." Dalzen shrugged.

"You're crazy."

"Oh, thank you...glad you noticed."

Taylor giggled weakly and Dalzen chuckled.

"Rest," he told her. "Alright?"

"Okay..."

.

Kano stirred the pot quietly.

"Taylor's here?" Coushander asked.

Kano kept quiet, not sure if she should tell him.

"Keiko?"

"...She is..." she answered reluctantly.

"Will you take me to her?"

"No!" Kano glared at the elder Hatake.

"Why not? Why can't I go see my great-granddaughter?"

"Because she needs to rest," Kano replied.

"Why?"

"She's lost a lot of blood and she sustain a wound in her abdomen. Taylor can't do much right now, she's hardly there!"

"So?"

"She needs rest!" Kano sighed heavily. "When I give her the OK to leave, if she wants to...she can come here herself."

Coushander pouted a bit.

"Fine," he grumbled.

"Coushander, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't leave here without stopping by," Kano told him. "She really likes you. Even if you're not around in her time, you're still her family and she loves you. I'll tell her you want to see her one last time and I'm sure she'll tell me that she'd love to come see you."

"You're right..." the elder sighed.

Kano smiled a bit.

"I'm sure she'd be glad to know you're concerned about her," she said.

"Yeah..." Coushander looked down.

.

On the third day there, Taylor was able to start sitting up, with help of course. Dalzen would help Taylor sit up and she'd stay sitting for about thirty minutes. On one of her attempts at sitting up, the Hokage himself showed himself. Dalzen was helping her sit up when Nidai came in the room.

"Ah, the man I've been looking for, for over a month!" the hokage stepped in.

Dalzen looked up, taking his hand away from Taylor's back.

"Lord Hokage," he murmured in surprise.

"Dalzen," the hokage smiled. "I was told you were at the hospital...I thought you were hurt..."

"No," Dalzen shook his head, then he stepped aside to allow him to see Taylor hunched over. "She did."

The hokage's eyes widened.

"Miss Hatake?"

Groggily, Taylor looked up.

"Nidaime," she smiled weakly.

"You're here..." he murmured.

"Yeah...I was helping Dalzen get back home..." she rubbed her eyes.

"Man, whatever Kano gave you for your pain has left you out of it," Dalzen remarked.

Taylor nodded in agreement.

"Yeah..."

"So where were you, Dalzen?" the hokage asked.

"In her time," the Morino answered. "I had the misfortune to come across two genin with an unusually large scroll...and I had no idea that it was_ that_ particular scroll. And there was another incident regarding the timeline, obviously. And I was the victim of it."

"Oh...well I'm glad you're back safe," the hokage told him.

Taylor rubbed her forehead and remembered something she wanted to tell Nidai.

"Hey Nidai..." she looked up at him. "I have a request."

"Yes?" the hokage glanced at the girl with a warm smile.

"I want you to notify every shinobi village you can and tell them that if they have a time jutsu scroll...to destroy it. I don't want anyone to get stuck in a different time like Dalzen and I. I don't want it to happen to anyone else..."

The hokage nodded.

"That's a reasonable request," he told her. "And I will do my best to fulfill it for you," he promised.

"Thank you," she smiled weakly.

"And I should take my leave so you can recover..." he said. "Oh, but before I forget," he turned to Dalzen. "Dalzen, I believe you fulfilled the mission I had for you, without your knowledge."

"Huh?" Dalzen looked at the hokage. "What do you mean?"

"You brought in the boys I was gonna send you out for," the hokage grinned.

"What?" Dalzen was surprised. "I-I did?"

"Yes. Kenji and Ayumu Ito-Uchiha," Nidai verified.

Dalzen wasn't sure what to think.

"Y-You're welcome...s-sir..." he stammered.

Nidaime bowed to them.

"Once you're ready Dalzen, I want you to head back to Suna," he ordered.

"That's my plan, Nidai."

"Great," the hokage smiled. "See you later then."

"See ya," Dalzen waved and the hokage took his leave. He let out a heavy sigh.

"So apparently, my mission was to arrest those two boys...and I had no idea," he sighed.

Taylor giggled wearily.

"Coincidence? I think not," she grinned, closing her eyes and then she stopped grinning but kept giggling.

"Yeah...whatever Kano gave you has you acting out of it," Dalzen said. "I've never seen you like this..."

She looked at him.

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Dalzen shrugged. "Just...lay down and take a nap or something."

"Okay..."

.

One last night at the hospital, and Taylor was given the OK to leave.

"Coushander wants to see you," Kano reminded Taylor, handing her a pair of crutches. "If you want, you may join him and Jiraiya for lunch."

Taylor nodded, taking the crutches.

"I wanted to go see him anyway," she smiled.

"Good," Kano said softly. "I think it would do him some good to see you."

Nodding, Taylor stood up with her help and Dalzen's and the crutches.

"Thank you, Kano," she bowed slightly.

"It's nothing," she smiled. "Now, go on."

"Yes ma'am," Taylor headed out with Dalzen and together, they headed out to Coushander's house, where they had to part. Once they were there, Taylor and Dalzen faced each other; Taylor looking up to meet his grey eyes and Dalzen looking down to meet her blue eyes.

"I suppose this is our final goodbye," he told her, his warm grey eyes showing no hostility, but rather care. Only a few people ever get a caring look from him and that was his wife, kids and Taylor...apparently.

"I suppose so," Taylor whispered, not looking away from him.

"...Taylor...it was an honor to know you," he started. "And...y-you're a sweet kid." He looked down, a bit sad to have to say goodbye. "Thank you...for letting me stay with you and Sakumo and kakashi...and uhm..." he swallowed hard. "You keep up the good work...keep practicing your genjutsu and well, all of what you do...keep practicing." He smiled, and those 51-year-old eyes softened as he crouched down, opening his arms for a hug. "You can hug me."

Taylor laid her crutches against the fence and hugged Dalzen.

"I'll miss you," she told him.

"I know," he responded.

"I'm glad I got to know you too, Dalzen," she said.

Dalzen nodded, unable to bring himself to say anymore. Taylor didn't let go for awhile, but Dalzen allowed it. When Taylor finally let go, he stood up straight and sighed.

"I've gotta go..." he told her. "And you need to go see Coushander..."

"Yeah..." Taylor slipped her crutches back under her arms. "Stay safe...Uncle Dalzen..."

A faint smile appeared on the Morino's face and he put his hand on her head.

"You too, Taylor," he said.

They both bowed and then Dalzen walked off. Taylor stood still for a few minutes as she watched him head off for Suna. Tears streamed down her face and she tried to stop herself from making a sound. Unfortunately for her, she started whimpering and then she started crying. After a moment, she wiped the tears away.

"Bye...Uncle Dalzen," she choked out.

After recovering from that goodbye, she opened the gate to Coushander's yard and she slipped in, closing the gate behind her. After lunch, she had another goodbye or two to make. And Taylor was not ready for that.

.

.


	12. Second Chance

_Into The Future_

.

.

Chapter Twelve  
**_Second Chance_**

.

Hesitantly, Taylor walked up the steps of the porch, suddenly being struck with a memory. She remembered when she ran up those steps with the wound on her arm and she tried to get into the house. She remembered pulling out her key, trying to get it into the keyhole, but she was too shaky to manage it. The rain was beginning to pour down and the thunder and lightning grew louder and brighter. The wind had kicked up too. Everything just happened so fast that Taylor couldn't process it. _What the hell are you doing?!_ yelled Coushander's voice as she remembered it._ Daddy!_ she remembered her own cry. Taylor remembered her knees shaking as they tried to hold her up. She heard herself cry out, _Shit! I need help!_ Taylor remembered herself collapsing onto her knees and then blacking out, just after she repeated, _Shit..._ That was all she could remember when she woke up the next morning with stitches in her arm. Shaking her head, she brought herself out of the flashback and her stomach churned as she reached her small hand to the door. Shakily, she knocked on the door.

"Coushander," she whispered.

"Daddy!" came Jiraiya's voice. "Door!"

The elder looked up, slowly cutting the carrots.

"Jiraiya," he started. "Why don't you go open the door for our guest?" he suggested. "I've got a bit of a handful right now..."

He finished cutting the carrots and scraped them onto his hand and slipped them into the pot with the rest of the chicken soup, "Please, Jiraiya?"

"Okay!" Happily, Jiraiya bounced over to the door.

Coushander sighed, _must be Taylor_. Jiraiya opened the door and revealed the young Hatake. Taylor looked down at Jiraiya and awkwardly smiled.

"Jiraiya," she grumbled, holding that smile. "Where's your father?"

"Daddy's in kitchen," Jiraiya grinned.

"May I see him?"

"Uhuh," Jiraiya stepped aside and allowed Taylor to walk in with her crutches. Silently, she walked into the living room and entered the kitchen. Then, she rested her crutches against the wall and stumbled over to the elder.

"Grandpa," she said quietly, tapping his shoulder.

Kousa turned around and he actually smiled.

"Taylor!"

"Grandpa!"

He set the ladle down on the counter and he held out his arms for a hug, and Taylor certainly took that invitation for a hug.

"I missed you," she told him.

"I missed you more," Coushander told her.

They hugged each other as tightly as they could.

"Kano told me you wanted to see me," she said, letting go.

"Yes..." Coushander smiled. "I heard you were in town so...I just wanted to see you...Oh! Let me see how much you've grown."

"You didn't see when you saw me that night?"

"No," Coushander answered. "C'mon, let me see how much you've grown."

"I haven't grown all that much," Taylor allowed him to look. "Seriously."

The elder put his hands on her cheeks and looked her in her eyes.

"No..." he murmured. "But those ice-blue eyes have grown colder. Your heart might be warm, but your eyes tell another story...they show...sadness...much like my own."

His hands felt comforting on her face and she closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying that comfort.

"Your eyes have grown colder," the elder repeated. "You've certainly grown older...how old are you?"

"Sixteen and a half," Taylor stated. "I'll turn seventeen in January."

"Sixteen huh..." he slid his hands to her shoulders. "You look a bit like me at that age... Did you...grow out your hair some? Your hair is tied back, but you've got...You look like me!"

Taylor looked at him and smiled.

"I suppose I've let my hair grow out some," she shrugged. "I'm still mistaken for Grandpa sometimes though..."

"I know you get your looks from Sakumo, certainly. You did not look anything like your father..."

"When I was five I looked like my dad," she grinned. "I used to have short hair, then I grew it out and now look like Sakumo. But...yeah...I am mistaken for my grandfather."

Coushander smiled warmly.

"Are you staying for lunch?"

"If you don't mind," Taylor answered.

"Of course not," the elder stated. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Yes sir," she smiled and then went and sat down at the table.

Quickly, Coushander returned to cooking.

"So, enlighten me...where did you all go?" he asked.

"A mission."

"Where?"

"Iwa," Taylor answered. "We went to Iwa to get the time scroll to get Dalzen back here, to this time."

The elder snuck a glance at Taylor.

"And for you to escort him home, I assume," he muttered.

"Yes...I wanted to make sure he got home safe," Taylor gave her honest answer. "If I wasn't with him, he would've gotten hurt and I couldn't bear the idea of him getting hurt again..."

Coushander blinked and then he nodded his head.

"That's...understandable," he agreed, then taking a quick break from cooking. "Would you like something to drink, Taylor?"

"Yeah...uhm whatever is fine," she answered. "As long as it's not sake."

"Okay," he searched for the tea and made her a hot cup of tea.

Taylor dug into her backpack for her jacket and slipped it on. Coushander didn't have a heater installed in the house like Sakumo did, so it was a bit chilly. She pulled out a slate-blue jacket that resembled a robe, except much shorter. The inside, the belt and the shoulders were a very pale blue. She slipped into it quietly and looked up at Coushander when he spoke.

"...I'm glad you came to see me, Taylor," the elder told her.

Taylor nodded.

"I already had plans to visit, Grandpa," she told him. "I thought a visit couldn't hurt anything..."

She looked down.

"Plus, I don't see why I couldn't come over...I knew I'd be welcome to come over as long as I'm not staying here for another month," she chuckled dryly. "I don't think I can stand Jiraiya, even if he's three and cute."

Coushander looked at her questioningly and Taylor rested her head on her hand.

"I have bad experiences with Jiraiya in the future," she told him as she remembered many moments where she nearly strangled Jiraiya. "And we'll just leave it at that. Maybe when he's a little older, you'll understand a bit."

"Perhaps..." the elder poured her a glass of tea and brought it to her. "Tea?"

"Thank you..." she smiled, taking the glass from him.

The elder nodded and went back to cooking. When it was done, he poured the soup into three bowls and he set the table.

"Do you want any help?" Taylor asked politely.

"No..." Coushander shook his head. "I don't need you to hurt yourself."

"I'm —" she caught herself and giggled.

"You haven't changed," Coushander remarked. "At least, in the way of your stubbornness."

"I remember playing the 'I'm fine' card with you..." Taylor sighed with a smile. "Guess I haven't changed..."

"Oh?" Coushander scoffed. "You never got really far in that game, trust me."

"Well..." Taylor grinned. "Maybe once..."

"For all of three hours," Coushander rolled his eyes. "Jiraiya! _Ikou!_"

"Hai!" the little boy ran into the kitchen.

"Oh boy..." Taylor grumbled as the boy sat down in front of his bowl. Coushander did the same.

"You may start eating," the elder told them.

"_Itadakimasu_," Taylor bowed her head and started eating the chicken soup, and so did her granduncle and great-grandfather.

"What happened to your hands?" Coushander asked Taylor when he saw her hands wrapped up.

Taylor glanced at her hands.

"Oh, they were stepped on...I was pushed into the lake and I tried to pull myself back onto the dock but the jerk who pushed me in stepped on my fingers and pretty much broke them all. I'm lucky I still have them..."

"Oh. Ow," the elder acknowledged her. "And...Kano said you were stabbed in the abdomen?"

"Yeah, by the same person...We fought. I don't know what he wanted with me, maybe wrong place wrong time..." she shook her head. "That's an understatement. Wrong country, wrong timeframe...I hurt you and Dalzen and even Saru..."

"How?" Coushander asked.

"I was in Kiri...thirty years ago from this time... I saw Dalzen and everyone else...and I followed you guys thinking no one would notice me...Dalzen noticed me and you and Saru found me too...I had to make a run for it so I couldn't hurt you guys," she looked down. "I shouldn't have followed you guys..."

Coushander thought for a moment, "I don't remember seeing you in Kiri...but that doesn't mean you weren't there..."

"I shouldn't have said anything."

"Oh."

"Are you a ninja?" Jiraiya asked Taylor.

She looked at the boy.

"Y-Yeah. I beat up bad guys," she told him. "And I protect my friends and my family."

"Awesome," Jiraiya grinned. "I wanna be a ninja too!"

_No you don't_, both Coushander and Taylor both thought.

"I'm sure you'd be a great ninja," Taylor told him.

Coushander sighed a little bit and continued eating.

.

It was time for their final goodbye after lunch and Taylor was still not ready.

"I have to go," Taylor reluctantly told Coushander. "Grandpa, come outside with me."

"Of course..." the elder reluctantly followed her outside. "Why outside? Don't you live here in the future?"

"Yeah...but I'm not supposed to do jutsu in the house..." she explained. "Besides, it's nice outside today..."

"...Oh."

They faced each other.

"I'm not gonna see you again after this," Taylor said, looking down without moving her head. "At least, not until my time comes."

"Yes..." Coushander looked down into her ice-blue eyes and he put his hands on her shoulders. "Those cold eyes," he remarked. "So sad...I want to know, whatever is the matter, my dearest?"

"I hate saying goodbye," she choked out. "I-It's...too final."

Coushander nodded in agreement.

"I understand," he whispered.

Taylor clenched her jaw, fighting tears.

"I don't get to see you for at least 100 years," she choked out. "You, Saru, and Dalzen."

"I know," he nodded. "Maybe that's why your eyes are so cold...you don't want to say goodbye."

"It's too final," she started crying.

"Oh..." Coushander pulled her towards him. "Don't cry," he tried to soothe her. "Please don't cry..."

"I can't help it," she sobbed.

The man himself started shedding tears.

"Neither can I..." he said. "That's another way we're alike, I suppose."

"Yeah..." Taylor laughed a little in her broken voice, hugging him. "I'll miss you all..."

"I know...I'll miss you too," he said, holding her close to him. They didn't let go for at least ten minutes (maybe an exaggeration), and then Taylor let go.

"Taylor...the other day..." Coushander sighed. "I was thinking about what you told me when you were telling me about...my brother..."

Taylor nodded.

"I don't hate you," he told her straight. "You had every right to keep it from me...because if I had known before hand...I don't know what I would've done, but perhaps...bug you about him..."

Taylor smiled a little, then she looked down sadly.

"I need to go home..." she whimpered. "...I...love you, Grandpa...I-I hope you know that..."

"I...I love you too, Taylor. P-Please be safe," Coushander choked out.

Taylor smiled through her tears and did the handsigns. "I will, Coushander. I promise...I'll be safe. I'll be safe with your spirit, Dalzen's and Saru's and even Matty's spirits in my heart. You guys will protect me, I know you will." The elder Hatake held his hand out to grab Taylor's hand but he wasn't fast enough to touch her because just before he could touch her, she disappeared completely from his sight. He stood there, stupidly holding his hand out. His warm, grey eyes stared out at the trees on the other side of the path, slowly turning red and orange, but he was fixated on trying to see Taylor. He trembled a little and tried not to cry as he brought his hand back to his side. "I'm not strong enough to protect you," he thought outloud. "Do...you really believe in me?" Of course there was no answer, Taylor was long gone. But, the wind blew in from behind him and made an odd whistling sound that reminded him of her. Could that have been a yes? It could have been, and if he knew Taylor well enough she would've immediately answered, "yes" because she really did believe he was strong enough to protect her. Coushander looked at his left hand, wrapped up to cover up the scars from his "scythe accident" and thought about the sweet girl. Then, he looked up at the sky. There was a song she would sing to herself and in those lyrics said something about Halley's Comet. And at lunch, she told him that he should be able to see it tonight. _Maybe I'll look for it_ tonight, he thought. _What were those lyrics? What was the song even called? _Second_..._Second Change_? No..._Chance_. _Second Chance_ I think. Maybe I'll remember the lyrics when I search for that Halley's Comet..._ Looking down, Coushander walked back inside his house and pouted for a few minutes.

.

She reappeared in her time and she sighed heavily, trembling from her emotions. _I'll go ahead and repair the damage that's been done to the fabric of space-time..._ Taylor did a new set of hand signs and fixed what she could of the universe. Her guess was that the only fabric that needed fixing was around the Earth. She stood motionless as she fixed up the universe with her mind and chakra. After nearly seven minutes, her chakra was drained, which caused her to collapse from the lack of chakra.

Her unconscious body wasn't discovered until Kakashi came home from running errands. He jumped the fence and saw Taylor laying on the ground.

"Taylor?" he walked over to her, holding the bags of groceries. Gently, he tapped her stomach with his foot. "You awake?" she made no response. "I guess not. I'll be back then..."

He continued to the porch and tried to open the door. When he opened the door, he headed straight into the kitchen and he sat the bags down on the table.

"Tadaima!" he called, dashing back out to get his daughter.

He jumped off the porch and ran over to Taylor. When he got to her, he bent down and scooped her up into his arms and then he picked up her crutches.

"Geez, what happened?" he wondered, taking her back inside. Kakashi took Taylor into her room and laid her down on her bed. _Did she do the jutsu? If so that's prolly why she's collapsed..._

Sakumo walked past Taylor's room, but went back when he realized Kakashi was in there.

"Kakashi?"

"Taylor's home," he whispered happily.

Sakumo walked in.

"She's out cold," Kakashi said. "She prolly had just fixed space and time and passed out from the lack of chakra."

"Probably," Sakumo shrugged.

"But...when I scooped her up, I saw she had a pair of crutches."

"Hm...That is odd," Sakumo raised an eyebrow. "Well, we'll find out why when she wakes up."

"Yeah..." Kakashi nodded.

"Just be glad she's home, son," Sakumo smiled.

"I am," Kakashi smiled back.

"Good," Sakumo put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder and led him out of the room.

Taylor slept until about ten that evening and when she finally woke up, she tried to get up.

"Eep!" she laid back down and she put her hand on her head. "Why does my chakra feel so...low...?"

She heard her door open and it was Kakashi. Immediately, he found Taylor awake.

"Taylor," he smiled. "You're awake."

"Yeah," Taylor forced herself up. "Oh...Itai..."

"Be careful," he told her.

"What happened?"

"You tell me. Did you use the jutsu?"

Taylor thought back.

"I...did..." she glanced at him. "You didn't tell me it'd chew up my chakra!"

"_Yareyare,_" Kakashi chuckled wryly. "I'm sorry, I didn't think to tell you."

"Would've been nice to know before I went and nearly got killed for Dalzen," Taylor muttered.

"_Yareyare_," Kakashi said again. "I said I'm sorry. Hopefully, it won't happen again..."

"I hope it doesn't either..." Taylor murmured.

"Do you need anything?" Kakashi asked.

"A cup of tea and perhaps supper," Taylor asked.

"Of course," Kakashi bowed. "I'll be back in a few then."

Taylor nodded and let Kakashi leave. Solemnly, she looked at her small hands, still wrapped up in bandages and an image of Coushander's left hand appeared in her mind. _His left hand was bandaged up when I saw him today,_ she realized. _He wraps up that hand sometimes..._ She looked up. _Didn't he tell me it was an accident with the scythe? Saru told me it was something else though...what was it?_

She unraveled her bandages to look at her fingers. _They haven't really healed much in the past few days...it still hurts to move my fingers..._ she thought. On her left hand were actual scars from an accident with the scythe. There is a reason you do not give a 10-year-old a scythe, a 10-year-old klutz especially. Taylor is that reason. _I'm surprised he never noticed, then again my hands are burried in my pockets all the time. Or if it's not that then they're in gloves._

She held the wrappings in her hands. _Should I wrap up my hand like Kousa does? They need to be wrapped up still anyway. _She wrapped her hands back up and looked up when her father came in with tea and left over supper.

"I brought you some left overs and tea," he told her, walking towards her.

"Thank you," she smiled.

Kakashi sat the tea on her night-stand and gave her the bowl and smiled. Caringly, he put his hand on her back and rubbed it gently as she ate.

"Hey Dad..." she started. "Would you do Nyanko-Sensei's voice?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"Nah. I'm sorry, Taylor...I can't..." he apologized. "My throat hurts too much to do that."

Taylor knew how to get him to do it anyway.

"Shut up, you're just a kitty cat!"

Kakashi gave in. (Kids can make you do that sometimes, especially if they're upset.) "Who are you calling a kitty cat?!" he exclaimed in a high pitched voice that matched Nyanko-Sensei's voice exactly. "I've spent such a long time in that ceramic cat that my body's gotten used to it. My true form is very graceful and elegant, you know." He coughed. "Oh God, that hurt."

"Sorry..." Taylor looked down. "I wanted to see if it'd cheer me up..."

"Gomen," Kakashi sighed, patting her back gently. "Eat up and rest."

"Okay," Taylor said, continuing to eat.

.

Coushander did what he said he would and went outside late that night to search for Halley's comet. It was a relatively cool night, and the sky was as clear as water when it's not murky. He searched the stars, and found himself hearing Taylor singing and he found himself singing those lyrics with her. Or at least what passed as singing for him. _My eyes are open wide, by the way I made it through the day. I watched the world outside, by the way I made it out today. So I just saw Halley's comet shoot away. Said, "Why're you always running in place?" Even the man on the moon disappeared, somewhere in the stratosphere._ Coushander shook his head. _Why'd I just start singing that? _Wouldn't Saru and Taylor be proud? The old man sung something, even if it was just under his breath. _Why're you always running in place? _he asked himself, watching the comet slowly make it's way across the dark sky. _I don't know,_ he sighed. _That's a good question..._

He clutched his robe. _I will miss you, Taylor..._

.

Dalzen set up camp by the border of the Land of Fire and he sighed. _I hope Taylor is okay_, he thought._ I know she was holding tears back..._ He looked up at the clear sky. _How'd you visit with Coushander go?_ He looked back down and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a ghost with white hair. _Saru?_ he wondered. The ghost quickly disappeared and Dalzen sighed._ Shit, I'm imagining things..._ he laid down. _They're so much alike...sometimes it's scary how much she resembles him._

Silently, Dalzen closed his eyes. _She's a sweet kid,_ he thought. _I suppose I understand why Coushander didn't wnat to forget her...she's so kind...I think I understand, Coushander._ He sighed. _I should sleep..._

.

A few days passed and Taylor decided she'd go to the graveyard to set flowers on her long-dead friends' graves. Sakumo escorted her as she picked out flowers to bring to them all; each got a bouquet of whatever flower she thought fit them. Then again, she never really understood the language of flowers and hoped they didn't either because hell if she knew a thing about flowers and their meanings. First, she set flowers on Matty's grave and said to her, "I never knew you, but your Grandpa's mom and Coushander's wife..." she told Matsuko, hoping she'd hear. "You're family, Grandma Matsuko."

Sakumo smiled a little and let Taylor go find Coushander.

"Mom..." he looked down. "I love you...please keep Dad sane, or as sane as can be..."

He bowed and left to find Taylor, which didn't take very long even though she already set his flowers down.

"You're a good man, Coushander," she whispered. "And I believe you're strong...Even if you don't believe so yourself, I believe in you."

Once she'd given everyone their flowers, she sighed heavily.

"I want to cry," she told Sakumo.

"well, you don't need my permission," Sakumo told her.

"I know," she rubbed her eyes. "My eyes are heavy, yet no tears are being shed."

"Coushander is wiping them away before they even come," Sakumo joked.

"I'm not five...that won't work...I know Coushander isn't really here...he's with _la madre_," she grumbled.

"Well, you never know," Sakumo grinned. "Perhaps he is really here."

"Saru told me three years ago that he had already moved on," Taylor sighed.

"You just won't believe me," Sakumo let out a dejected sigh. "You're no fun."

"Sorry..." Taylor shrugged, now feeling the tears. "I will miss them...I really will..."

.

.

.

.

_"Into The Future"_

By Taylor Hatake

* * *

**Author's End Note**: Wheeewww this one's finally done! /happy tears/ I'm glad I got to write this story. It was fun writing Dalzen in the future, even though I didn't make it much of a nightmare like I had wanted. I regret not writing more for Dalzen, so I plan to yet again go back and add more. Caliko, you must tell me how to make this more of a nightmare for Dalzen because he's not like Taylor, who panics more and is easily overstimulated. Plus, he has more freedom that she did, so I'm not quite sure how to make it a living hell for him ;)

But uhm...Thank you for letting me write this, an unplanned sequel to "Into The Past" = ) It was very fun. I can't wait to go back and add more, but first you must note me how to actually make this a living nightmare for him so I know what I'm doing = D

-T. Hatake


End file.
